Kobe comes up big as Lakers drown the Sixers

Lakers 114 - 102 Sixers

Kobe Bryant almost singlehandedly took the Lakers to last year's NBA Finals, so it was little surprise that last night, his performance alone was enough to carry the Lakers past the Sixers.

Bryant, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, always seems to do well on his homecoming trips and last night was no exception, as the star notched up a game high 32 points.

The Lakers came into the game on the back of only their second loss this season: a last second affair in Indiana, so this would have been the proverbial time to "catch them when they're down".

What was actually seen however, was a Lakers team with very short memories, determined to make up for that loss and start a new streak afresh, and the Sixers never really got close to making it back-to-back losses for the 'Best in the West'.

The Sixers came within six in the third and eight late in the fourth, but every time they tried to rally, Bryant came up with a big shot to remove the pressure.

Andre Miller backed up his big game in Chicago with a 26 point haul, whilst Iguodala (19), Thaddeus Young (17), Louis Williams (15) and Samuel Dalembert (11) all made double digits in support, as Philly topped 100 points inside four quarters for the first time in nine games.

Here are the highlights:

However, even shooting 48.8% from the floor (a high percentage by their standards) wasn't enough for the 76ers, as LA shot almost 60% and nearly 50% from beyond the arc.

In contrast, Philly only hit one in every three from downtown, and 3 point shooting is becoming a real issue for Maurice Cheeks' team.

The Sixers rank 25th in the league in 3 point percentage, as no-one seems to be able to knock them down consistently.

Louis Williams came off the bench last night and went 3-5 from distance, but his average is less than 25% on the year.

Since trading Kyle Korver to the Jazz a year ago, Philly have not been the same from the perimeter, and this is affecting their offensive efficiency, which ranks 26th in the NBA.

Failure to knock in 3 pointers means that the Sixers can't spread a team out defensively, and they have to try and get all their points inside - over half of their points against the Lakers were scored in the paint (54).

Bryant on the other hand, gave a masterclass on shooting in general, and his team backed him up from the perimeter.

Here are some extended Lakers highlights which, even as a Philly fan, you can't help but sit back and admire.

Watch out for Paul Gasol's double-double (22 points, 13 rebounds) and center Andrew Bynum (7-11 for 18 points):

The worst news of the night was that Elton Brand had to leave the game late in the third with a hamstring strain.Brand had been poor during his time on the court, going just 1-7 before coming out of the game for good.

This was probably down to the injury as Cheeks claims that Brand only told him about it when he left the game, but he said it had been niggling him for a while.

The forward is listed as day-to-day but he will definitely miss the team's trip to Detroit on Friday night, which is a big blow as Brand leads the Sixers in points and rebounds per game.

The last thing the 76ers need is a long term injury to their new star, who they will need if they are going to get their season back on track.

Philly signed Brand to a massive $80 million contract to try and solve what was widely acknowledged as their biggest weakness: halfcourt offense.

But despite all the good work he has done, Brand's production is still down on his last season with the Clippers, and this is obviously due to the Sixers' lack of a serious outside threat, to open up spaces for him.

Korver would have been ideal for the job, as he is still hitting nearly 50% of his 3 pointers out in Utah, but ironically it was his departure that freed up the cash with which Philly were able to sign Brand.

In signing Brand, the Sixers now have very little money to go out and sign the seemingly missing piece of their offensive jigsaw: a true shooter.

So far no-one within the organisation has stepped up and taken the 'Korver role', raising questions on whether there will be some form of roster move to try and bring in a new threat.

These questions however will have to wait for another day, as the Sixers now look to try and set themselves off in the right direction once more, starting Friday in the Motor City.

Even without Brand Philly have plenty of talent, but that talent has yet to gel offensively this year in the same way as it did at the end of last season, when the team put on a spurt to make the playoffs.

Minus Brand, the lineup heading to Detroit has a very similar backbone to that which made the postseason and in the very same city, won Game One of that series.

Now as it was then, Miller and Iguodala are set to try and lead by example, against a team renouned for playing defense first and offense second.

It is going to be tough, but with the added spice of facing long-time Philly hero Allen Iverson, the Sixers should at least be fired up.