Lakers vs. Sixers Preview and Game Thread: Can the Lakers make it five in a row?

The Lakers look to stay perfect on their Grammy road trip as they aim to extend their winning streak to five against the Sixers on Tuesday.

The Lakers are back at it on Tuesday as they will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Sixers. This will be the sixth time L.A. will be playing on a back-to-back this season, where they have a 4-1 record.

It will also be the final time they see Philadelphia in the regular season.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers

When: 4:30 PST, Jan 28

Where: Wells Fargo Center

Watch: TNT, Spectrum Sportsnet

No Joel Embiid. No Paul George. It’s time for the Lakers to take advantage of another game made easier due to their opponent’s injury report.

The Sixers are coming into this game ranked as a bottom-tier offensive and defensive team, and the purple and gold are tasked with proving why that’s the case.

With no Embiid and PG, look for Tyrese Maxey — who has been on a heater as of late, averaging 26.6 points and six assists — this season. The guard is coming off a 31-point night against the Phoenix Suns, so expect him to keep it up.

It’ll be up to L.A.’s perimeter defense, featuring Max Christie, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith and hopefully Gabe Vincent, to limit the Sixers’ perimeter scoring.

Speaking of perimeter scoring, L.A. needs to shoot better than they did in Monday’s win against the Hornets where they went 6-28 (21.4%) from the 3-point line. If it weren’t for Anthony Davis’ 42 points, the Lakers could’ve lost that one.

It would also be nice to continue to see AD take over. Without Embiid and even Andre Drummond in Tuesday’s match, the 31-year-old should be feast inside the paint. It’ll most likely be Guerschon Yabusele and Adem Bona down low for Philadelphia, so it would be ideal if the Lakers attack the paint again where they really excel at. Just look at how they dominated Charlotte in that department, scoring 66 points of their 112 in the interior.

Moreover, it’s uncertain whether LeBron James will play in this one, but if he doesn’t, the Lakers will need contributions from across the board. No role player other than James and Davis had more than 17 points on Monday night, which isn’t bad per se but cannot be sustained.

On the second night of a back-to-back, it’ll be great if the Lakers can get more offensive firepower from their supporting cast.

L.A. has the opportunity to win five in a row and tie its longest winning streak of the season on Tuesday. They’ve won six of their last seven and can improve that in a winnable game tomorrow. The best part is that the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies — two teams who are above Los Angeles in the Western Conference standings — also lost their games on Monday, so now is the time to capitalize on this stretch ahead.

Let’s see if the Lakers can make it five in a row and remain perfect in their Grammy road trip as they take on the Sixers on Tuesday.

Notes and Updates

• Before we get to the injury report, here’s a not-so-fun fact: The Lakers haven’t won in Philadelphia since the 2017-2018 season. It’s been a long time coming and it would be nice to finally break that losing streak on their home floor tomorrow.
• Since they’re playing on a back-to-back, L.A. has yet to release an injury report. It’s uncertain whether Gabe Vincent (left knee soreness) and Rui Hachimura (left calf soreness) — both who didn’t suit up on Monday night — will play on Tuesday. The same goes with James, who also said implied postgame that he’s not sure if he’ll be playing.
• That said, expect Jalen Hood-Schifino (left hamstring strain) and Christian Wood (left knee surgery recovery) to be out.
• For the Sixers, Joel Embiid (left knee injury), Paul George (left finger sprain), Andre Drummond (left toe injury), Caleb Martin (right hip sprain), KJ Martin (left foot soreness) and Jared McCain (left knee meniscus injury) are out. Guerschon Yabusele (right knee swelling) is probable.
• We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.