PHILADELPHIA — LeBron James needed to send this message.
He still sits on his throne.
The Lakers superstar scored 10 consecutive points late in the fourth quarter to seal a 112-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, helping the Lakers (17-6) nab two wins out of their difficult three-game road trip.
After knocking down a 20-foot fadeaway over Quentin Grimes, James held both hands low to the ground, signaling “too small,” before placing an imaginary crown on his head and punctuating it with his signature silencer celebration. James, who sat out of the Lakers’ last game in Boston because of sciatica and left-foot joint arthritis, finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists, including 12 points in the fourth quarter to hold off the 76ers. Philadelphia (16-7) came back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter and tied the score with 1:28 remaining on a shot by Joel Embiid.
Luka Doncic returned from a two-game absence to record a 31-point, 15-rebound, 11-assist triple-double. Now a father of two daughters, Doncic rejoined the team in Philadelphia on Saturday after he and his fiancee welcomed their second child, Olivia.
Despite traveling from Slovenia, Doncic didn’t miss a beat Sunday. He scored five of the Lakers’ first seven points and took the most shot attempts of anyone on the Lakers. With 10 points, five rebounds and four assists in the first quarter, Doncic was already flirting with a triple-double after 12 minutes.
The Lakers erased a 10-point deficit in the first quarter only to find themselves down by 10 again in the second. After Austin Reaves hit a corner three — just his second basket after he missed his first eight attempts from the field — to bring the Lakers to within two points, the 76ers answered with a 10-2 run that pushed their lead back to 10 with 38.9 seconds remaining in the half.
Reaves, who was averaging 41 points a game without Doncic, had just 11 points. Deandre Ayton had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
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