Feb. 6, 2026, 7:31 a.m. ET
LOS ANGELES — The Philadelphia 76ers fell short to the Los Angeles Lakers 119-115 on Thursday night as their season-long 5-game win streak came to an end. The Sixers saw a 14-point lead slip away as the Lakers dug deep and rallied to win behind Austin Reaves and LeBron James down the stretch.
Joel Embiid had 35 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists for Philadelphia. Tyrese Maxey had 26 points and 13 assists, VJ Edgecombe had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Dominick Barlow had 13 points.
Here are the three biggest takeaways following the loss:
Offensive stagnation, physical play
The Sixers were in control for most of this one and built a 14-point lead in the third quarter, but the Lakers went on a 26-10 run and built a 10-point lead on their end. The Sixers did make one last push, but they were unable to get over the hump as Reaves and James made a ton of plays down the stretch to make sure the Lakers would walk away with the win. The Sixers seemed to get stagnant on the offensive end and they let one slip away.
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“They started switching,” said Maxey. “We got stagnant. I think our biggest thing was we didn’t get back on defense, and they played fast. They couldn’t really score on our half-court defense, but they scored in transition. Sometimes when you play those types of games and those types of teams, you gotta pick up the closest to the ball, whoever has the closest man, all that, and that kind of happened to us tonight.”
Maxey bottled up
Yes, Maxey finished with 26 points on the night, but it was a grind to get those 26. He shot only 1-for-9 from deep and there were quite a few layups he missed. The Lakers played physical on their end of the floor to keep Maxey out of the paint and make the All-Star starter as uncomfortable as he’s looked all season. It was an impressive showing for LA and one Maxey will have to move on from as Philadelphia looks to bounce back on the road trip.
“They did a lot of switching I thought,” said coach Nick Nurse. “I think he started 0-for-5 or six and all those were really good. So, he did get some good looks, but they started switching a little bit, and he just didn’t get great ones from there. Some, from the 3-ball. They were really physical on his drives. I mean crazy.”
Barlow converted to a standard deal
It was an obvious move for the Sixers, but Barlow was officially converted from a two-way deal to a standard one as a reward for all of his hard work and great production for Philadelphia. The Sixers got it done shortly before the contest and then he went out there and produced the way they have come to expect from the 4-year big man from Overtime Elite. As the Sixers move forward, Barlow is going to continue to be an important part of this group.
“I mean, he certainly more than deserved it, right?” Nurse stated. “I don’t know what the record books say, but a two-way guy starting that many games out of the block for a team that’s winning a little bit, right? We got a winning record? I don’t know if that’s ever happened, or if it does happen. There’s some good two-way guys around the league, obviously, playing more, but certainly filled a great role for us, and he played very well again tonight.”