Fresh off a timeout after one of their 21 turnovers, the Lakers sprinted around the court on defense, trying to keep their one-point lead. They threw a double team at 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey, then Austin Reaves recovered back to an open Nicolas Batum, and Philadelphia forced up a tough three-pointer. LeBron James grabbed the rebound, jetted down the floor and scored.
Then another stop — Tobias Harris airballed a three — one of his five misses from deep. The Lakers ran again, this time with D’Angelo Russell zipping a pass to an open Anthony Davis for a dunk to give the Lakers a five-point lead with 5:35 left.
The building was alive. So too were the Lakers.
The stretch helped push the Lakers across the finish line in a 101-94 win when they rarely were at their best offensively but were good enough when it mattered.
The win pushed the Lakers (38-32) back to six games over .500 and allowed them to pick up a game on 10th place Golden State, who lost to the Lakers’ Sunday opponent, Indiana.
After the Pacers, the Lakers play Milwaukee, Memphis, Indiana, Brooklyn, Toronto and Washington on the road. The games with the Grizzlies and the Wizards will be on the second nights of back-to-backs.
It’s an opportunity for the Lakers to make up ground in the playoff race — all the teams other than the Pacers and the Bucks are out of the playoff picture.
The Lakers came into Friday on a four-day break, an unheard of respite this deep into the season, and they were able to hold a pair of practices with a defensive focus. Against the 76ers, they looked much improved on that side of the ball, holding Philadelphia to 34.4% shooting and just 18 points in the fourth.
Davis led the Lakers with 23 points and 19 rebounds, with two of his four blocks coming in the final quarter. James had 11 of his 20 points in the fourth, and the other three starters each finished with 14 points.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 11 off the bench while continuing his strong defensive play.
Russell set the Lakers’ single-season record for three-pointers made in a season with his second three of the game, moving past Nick Van Exel’s mark of 183 from the 1994-95 season.
Russell entered Friday’s game having made 42.4% from deep on the season and hit four of 10 on Friday.
Maxey led Philadelphia (38-32) with 27 points.