I a game where the Lakers missed 45% of their shots and Philly made less than 35% of theirs,n

It was by no means the most visually stunning basketball match ever played, and from a style perspective, it was somewhat reminiscent of the teams’ rivalry in the early and mid-2000s. But, the Lakers would gladly accept the victory in a 101-94 slugfest against the 76ers on Friday night, regardless of the appearances.

This was a defensive battle for both sides, as the shooting percentages suggest. The Lakers did well to mostly contain a 76ers offense that was very perimeter-centric, while Philly did well to sabotage the Lakers’ offensive rhythm and flow. With efficient substitutions, aid, and rotation, the Lakers held Philly to just eight field goals out of 37 attempts from beyond the arc (21.6%) and only 33 of 96 overall.

In the absence of Joel Embiid as the focal point of their offensive strategy, the 76ers relied heavily on Tyrese Maxey to generate shots from outside the area using on-ball screens, handoffs, and other maneuvers aimed at releasing him. Maxey answered with 27 points, but it took him 26 attempts to get there on a night when he was unable to make any of his six efforts from behind the arc. Maxey’s life was made as unpleasant as possible by the Lakers, who harassed him all over the court, challenging his jumpers from the victory and his paint shots.

In addition to Maxey, Kelly Oubre and Tobias Harris also contributed well for Philly, scoring 19 and 16 points apiece, although they only shot six of 18 from the field overall, including a combined 2 of 11 from beyond the arc. While Philly attempted to make up for their poor shooting performance by regaining possession of the offensive glass and pursuing second-chance points (16 total on 13 offensive rebounds), Harris and Oubre did perform admirably on the glass with 13 and 6 rebounds, respectively, including two offensive rebounds each.

The 76ers held their own against a Lakers offense that was having trouble getting back into a groove after missing a game on Monday, even though the Lakers did a good job of containing and limiting the impact of Philly’s primary offensive players. In an effort to slow down the Lakers offense, Philly applied pressure to the ball handlers on the team, obstructed passing lanes, and efficiently rotated throughout the court.

Despite facing double teams for the majority of the game, Anthony Davis led the way with 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting. Sixers coach Nick Nurse ordered three players to swarm Davis’ air space, as he has done before when facing AD, which forced the ball out of Davis’ hands either on the grab or when it appeared he was about to make a move to score.

In order to overcome this, Davis made a few jumpers and used fast fakes and forceful pushes to the paint to score inside. With seven of his game-high 19 rebounds coming from the attacking end of the court, he also performed admirably when working the offensive glass. When playing AD with just one defender, the defense had few answers for him inside, therefore AD exploited those extra possessions to either get himself a bucket or kick the ball out and reset the team’s offensive.