Los Angeles Lakers (36-9) at Philadelphia 76ers (29-17)
- LeBron James enters Saturday with 33,626 career points, needing just 18 to pass Kobe Bryant (33,643) for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. LeBron has reached 18 points in all but four games this season.
- The Sixers have the largest disparity between home wins (20-2) and road wins (9-15) in the NBA. The Sixers rank second in defense (102.1), 14th in offense (111.8) and fifth in net rating (plus-9.7) at home. Those rankings drop to eighth in defense (108.3), 23rd in offense (105.4) and 16th in net rating (minus-2.8) on the road.
- The Lakers are one of five teams that have more road wins (league-best 20-4) than home wins (16-5) this season; no team has a higher disparity than the Lakers at plus-4. The Lakers rank second in offense (113.6) and fifth in defense (107.9) on the road this season.
- The Sixers are 5-3 since losing Joel Embiid to a finger injury on Jan. 6. During that stretch, Ben Simmons has averaged 20.8 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 63.3% from the field. That is a significant increase from his 14.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 56.3 FG% in the 38 games prior to Embiid’s injury.
- Of the 34 players that have defended at least 200 shots at the rim this season, JaVale McGee ranks fifth in lowest field goal percentage allowed at 50.4%. That coupled with Anthony Davis’ 2.5 blocks per game (3rd in NBA), help the Lakers allow the seventh fewest baskets inside six feet at 17.4 per game this season.
