The Los Angeles Lakers lost a nail-biter to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night, and plenty of Lakers fans were disappointed with the game’s final possession. Russell Westbrook was unable to do anything against 76ers center Joel Embiid, and the Lakers finished the game without getting a solid look at the rim.
Russell Westbrook with one of the biggest botches of the year pic.twitter.com/33630agPyC
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) January 16, 2023
Following the contest, many fans pointed out that it seemed like Embiid fouled Westbrook at the end.
Looks like Joel Embiid got pure wrist on that final possession against Russell Westbrook. pic.twitter.com/8zqIZh9St2
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) January 16, 2023
However, according to the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report (L2M) for the Lakers-76ers game, Embiid did not foul Westbrook.
The NBA's L2M report says that Russ was not fouled on the final possession:
"Embiid (PHI) slightly extends his arm before retracting it and marginal arm contact occurs with Westbrook (LAL) during the driving shot attempt."
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) January 16, 2023
Lakers fans will likely disagree with the league’s explanation, but the reality is that nothing can be done about the game now. The loss dropped the Lakers to 19-24 on the season, and they now sit in 13th place in the Western Conference.
After winning six of seven games, Los Angeles has now lost three straight games. It now sits 1.5 games back of the Utah Jazz for the final play-in tournament spot in the West and three games back of the Los Angeles Clippers for the sixth seed in the conference.
The team has sorely missed big man Anthony Davis, who has been out since suffering a stress injury in his right foot in the middle of December against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers have gone 7-8 in the 15 games Davis has missed since.
The good news is that the University of Kentucky product might be able to make a return before the league gets put on pause for the All-Star Game.
The hope is that Anthony Davis is gonna be able to get back out on the floor with a handful of games left before the All-Star break – early February 🙏@ShamsCharania on potential return for Lakers star Anthony Davis#RunItBack | https://t.co/Q9hUtUoPZJ pic.twitter.com/DyHF2PFdjd
— FanDuel TV (@FanDuelTV) January 16, 2023
“Anthony Davis is expected to start running now,” NBA insider Shams Charania began. “So, once that happens and he’s back onto the floor running full speed, that point he’s going to progress to contact work in the relative near future. And so, I’m told that the hope is that Anthony Davis is going to be able to get back out on the floor with a handful of games left before the All-Star break.”
Getting Davis back would be a huge boost, as LeBron James needs all the help he can get. The 38-year-old is doing what he can to help the squad by recording 29.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game on 50.7 percent shooting from the field, but it’s clear that he needs more support.
The Lakers have reportedly discussed a deal that would net them Bojan Bogdanovic and Nerlens Noel from the Detroit Pistons and been linked to a number of players, but their reported priority is to find a trade that will make them better over the next three years.
It seems like the Lakers are content just riding out the rest of the season with their current roster, but that might not be enough to make it back to the postseason.
