LeBron James hits triple-double against struggling Sixers; The team misses out on its top three

The Philadelphia 76ers continued to suffer without their full big three players, and the Los Angeles Lakers extended the team’s miserable start to 1-7 with a 116-106 win Friday night on the West Coast.

Paul George scored nine points for the Sixers and rookie Jared McCain had 18 points in the Sixers’ fifth straight loss.

Former league MVP Joel Embiid served the second game of his three-game suspension for shoving a newspaper columnist while he was an All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey missed his first game with a hamstring injury that will put him out of action for at least two weeks.

LeBron James recorded 21 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in his second triple-double of the season.

Anthony Davis scored 31 points, Austin Reaves had 20 and D’Angelo Russell added 18 as a reserve for the Lakers, who remained undefeated after going 1-4 this season at Crypto.com Arena.

The 39-year-old James secured his 114th career triple-double early in the fourth quarter.

James has recorded seven triple-doubles since passing Tim Duncan a year ago, becoming the second oldest player in NBA history to achieve the feat. Karl Malone was 40 years and 127 days old when he became the oldest player with a triple-double in November 2003.

Bronny James played the final with 1:28.

76ers: Winning without Embiid and Maxey seems terribly difficult, and the Sixers couldn’t play enough defense to stay competitive.

Lakers: Cam Reddish replaced Russell in the starting lineup and rookie coach JJ Redick’s strategy seemed to be working. The spirited Russell played comfortably and aggressively as a reserve.

Philadelphia erased an early 13-point deficit just before halftime, but the Lakers went on an 8-0 run at the break and a 10-0 score shortly after to take the lead.

The Lakers host Toronto on Sunday night. The 76ers return home to take on Charlotte on Sunday night.