Sixers takeaways: Second half turnovers, Joel Embiid’s scoring and more in loss to Lakers

The 76ers were handling business at the conclusion of an emotional two days, until they began turning the ball over when things got chippy in the second half.

They were also doomed by the Lakers’ bench points.

But if there’s a positive for the Sixers, Joel Embiid was back to doing a little bit of everything against Los Angeles.

And coach Nick Nurse will tell you that the biggest strides that VJ Edgecombe has made is with his consistency.

» READ MORE: Austin Reaves scores 35 to help Lakers snap the Sixers’ five-game winning streak

Those things stood out in Thursday’s 119-115 loss to the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena.

The setback dropped the Sixers to 29-22 and snapped their five-game winning streak. They also fell one spot to sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

The good news is the Sixers didn’t look like a team that was emotional earlier in the day due to losing teammates Jared McCain and Eric Gordon before the 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline.

The bad news is that the team continued its trend of falling apart after the intermission.

At one point, it looked like the Sixers would coast to an early victory. However, they began to struggle as the Lakers (31-19) increased their physicality. That led to costly turnovers by the Sixers.

Los Angeles opened the fourth quarter on a 21-6 run.

The Sixers committed 15 turnovers, with 11 coming in the second half. To their credit, they battled back after trailing by 16 points with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left to play. Tyrese Maxey’s floater pulled the Sixers within two points with 27 seconds left.

But they just couldn’t overcome costly turnovers at inopportune times, combined with Los Angeles’ chippy play.

“It’s just the physicality at one end was a big thing,” Nurse told the media. “I think it was we had [been] playing pretty good and rolling along pretty well, winning. It just seemed like it was physical at one end and not at the other.”

» READ MORE: Sixers convert Dominick Barlow’s two-way contract to a standard NBA deal

This loss could be a major disappointment, given that the Sixers’ stars shone.

Embiid finished with 35 points on 13-for-19 shooting along with seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and two blocks. Maxey added 26 points, 13 assists, and four steals for his sixth double-double this season. Edgecombe finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and four steals for his third double-double. And Dominick Barlow had 13 points, two steals, and a block hours after having his two-way contract converted to a standard deal.

But the last couple of days for the Sixers was intense mentally.

First, the uncertainty surrounding the trade deadline was emotionally taxing. They knew that several teammates could be moved before Thursday’s deadline. Then there was some added emotion seeing the well-liked McCain get traded on Wednesday. And even though he rarely played, the emotion resurfaced when Gordon, a team mentor, was moved on Thursday.

» READ MORE: The Sixers got under the tax and took a small step back at the NBA trade deadline

“I think it is emotional for everybody,” Nurse told reporters before the game. “Just watching it all unfold over the last three days, it seems like every half hour there’s some news around the league. I think that pours into the emotion for everybody that there’s a lot going on, seeing the wildness of all of it going so fast.”

The Sixers knew the trade deadline was coming down to the wire when they arrived at Thursday’s shootaround. And it was a bit of a distraction for them.

“But everybody is going through it,” Nurse said. “So you can’t sit here and say it’s a factor in anything. And you have to get through this game. And we’ll see what kind of emotions it had for us when we go out there and play tonight.”

And they came to play with all five starters scoring in the first five minutes, setting the tone early on.

The Sixers could have used McCain’s scoring production off the bench against the Lakers. That’s because Los Angeles had a 61-14 advantage in bench points. Austin Reaves, a regular starter, is coming off the bench for the Lakers due to being on a minutes restriction. The guard finished with a team-high 35 points by making 5 of 8 three-pointers while playing just 25:03.

Rui Hachimura added 14 points in a reserve role.

He and Reaves took up the slack for Luka Dončić, who exited the game in the first half with left leg soreness.

It didn’t take long to realize Embiid would have a solid night.

The 2023 MVP and seven-time All-Star scored 12 of the Sixers’ 27 first-quarter points. Embiid was averaging 30.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 12 career games against the Lakers before Thursday’s game.

» READ MORE: Sixers trading Eric Gordon to Memphis in exchange for a second-round pick swap

But Embiid struggled through 4-for-21 shooting – including missing all six of his three-pointers – while scoring 16 points in the Sixers’ 112-108 loss to the Lakers on Dec. 7 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Thursday, however, marked the seventh time that he scored at least 30 points against Los Angeles.

As a 20-year-old rookie, Edgecombe has experienced peaks and valleys in his play.

“But not many,” Nurse said. “Not … too high or too low. And I think that’s an accomplishment or development, or a stride that rookies are usually pretty up and down. But he kind of came in doing a lot of stuff, and he continues to do a lot of stuff. That’s all I keep saying, he’s so versatile. He does a little bit of everything. And again, he has great maturity and composure for his age as well.”

The Sixers are trying to get Edgecombe to become more aggressive. Nurse has seen increased aggressiveness from him lately.

“But I don’t want to say we’re there yet, either,” the coach said.