By Sean Kennedy
The Lakers have always taken on a Hollywood personality, but right now, the cast of stars they most resemble is the Walking Dead. Los Angeles has a host of players sitting out or playing through injuries, resulting in a 7-game losing streak that was just snapped in their last game against a Cleveland team unraveling faster than Andrew Bynum’s knee ligaments. The injury report includes Pau Gasol (groin), Jodie Meeks (ankle), Xavier Henry (knee), Nick Young (knee), and of course, the Black Mamba himself. Jordan Farmar (cramps) and Jordan Hill (neck) also missed time recently but are expected to be back in the lineup against the Sixers.
One man who will be suiting up for the Lakers is Steve Nash, who looked pretty good in his return Tuesday after over two months off, recording 9 assists against the Wolves. Still, he remains on a minutes restriction and will cede plenty of point guard responsibilities to Farmar and Steve Blake, who also returned to the lineup this week and had a triple-double Wednesday against Cleveland. As with any Mike D’Antoni team, the Lakers are jacking up a ton of threes which could spell doom against the Sixers. The guard trio of Nash, Farmar, and Blake are all capable outside shooters, as is Wes Johnson on the wing, and power forward Ryan Kelly, who is like a Multiplicity third generation-copy of Ryan Anderson, and we all know how those stretch fours hurt Philadelphia.
However, if the Sixers can do even an adequate job defending the arc, there are plenty of ways to exploit the Lakers, especially given how shorthanded they are. Nash was never a good defender and at this stage of his career, he’s downright atrocious. Michael Carter-Williams should attack that matchup whenever it presents itself. Also, Ryan Kelly is really nothing more than a spot-up shooter; the Sixers should take advantage of D’Antoni having him out on the floor by feeding Thad Young, who should be able to blow right past the flat-footed Kelly. Finally, the Lakers are the second-worst defensive-rebounding team in the NBA, a problem only exacerbated with Gasol out of the lineup. One area the Sixers have consistently performed well in is hitting the offensive boards. Young, Spencer Hawes, Lavoy Allen, and MCW should all be looking to exploit that Lakers weakness. Honestly, with all the injuries, the Lakers arguably have even less talent on the roster than the Sixers’ tanktastic group. If the Sixers don’t beat themselves with turnovers, they should prevail over the boys from the left coast.
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