PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers held a 16-point lead with 4:05 to go over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday at home. The Sixers looked like they were just going to cruise to an easy win and get back on track.
Instead, they turned the ball over, they weren’t able to get any stops, and they made a slew of mistakes as the Lakers rallied to force overtime before Philadelphia was able to walk away with a 133-122 win to end a 3-game losing skid.
A big play was with Philadelphia leading it 120-117 with 10.5 seconds left, the Lakers ran a play for Austin Reaves after a big night, and Matisse Thybulle fouled him while shooting a triple. Reaves stepped to the line with a chance to tie before he only made two of the three.
“I hope we don’t lose,” Thybulle said of what was going through his mind.
With that being said, the plan was to foul Reaves. Being up three, they didn’t want the Lakers to get an easy look at a triple. It just didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to.
“Our goal was to foul,” Thybulle explained. “So I was chasing him off the screen to get back in front of him and he just stopped and shot the ball. These things happen.”
Reaves did have 25 points off the bench for the Lakers and he shot 4-for-6 from deep. Considering Philadelphia’s focus was on LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it seems that Reaves slipped through the cracks in terms of defensive focus.
“I think we all knew what he was capable of,” Thybulle finished. “I think it was more so disappointing that we let it happen.”
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