Lakers’ Luka Doncic, left, celebrates with LeBron James, second from left, Austin Reaves (15) and Deandre Ayton (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) Lakers’ LeBron James, left, shoots the ball over Philadelphia 76ers’ Paul George, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) Lakers’ LeBron James, center, gets the ball stolen by Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey, right, as Jabari Walker, left, is defending during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) Lakers’ Luka Doncic, right, shoots the ball against Philadelphia 76ers’ Paul George, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) Lakers’ Deandre Ayton, left, dunks the ball as Philadelphia 76ers’ Andre Drummond, right, looks on during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey, left, drives to the basket against Lakers’ Austin Reaves, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) Lakers’ LeBron James, center left, goes up for the shot against Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, center right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) Show Caption1 of 7Lakers’ Luka Doncic, left, celebrates with LeBron James, second from left, Austin Reaves (15) and Deandre Ayton (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola) Expand PHILADELPHIA — With Luka Doncic being away from the team and in Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter for the start of the Lakers’ three-game trip, Coach JJ Redick was hopeful the star guard would be feeling like himself for Sunday’s road game against the Philadelphia 76ers after 24-plus hours of travel over six days. But what wasn’t mentioned was LeBron James, back in the lineup after a one-game absence because of sciatica and left foot joint arthritis, resembling the version of himself that the Lakers have become accustomed to over the last several years. James’ steady play and late-game heroics lifted the Lakers to a 112-108 win over the 76ers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. “That was amazing,” Doncic said. “That was vintage Bron. We’re happy he was there to save us. He had an amazing game, obviously amazing fourth quarter. He just decided the game.” James finished with a season-high 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting (4 of 6 on 3s) to go with seven rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes in his seventh game back since making his season debut in late November. “Felt pretty good with a couple days had off not playing in Boston Friday,” James said. “I had 2½ days to kind of work through the injuries that I have. I’m still not a 100%, but I felt a lot better [on Sunday] than I did coming out the Toronto game [on Thursday]. Doncic finished with a triple-double: 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists in his first game back with the team after his brief absence. The 26-year-old star guard flew back to Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter, Olivia, on Tuesday after the Lakers’ home loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. He landed back in the United States on Saturday afternoon. “I was tired,” Doncic said. “Mentally, I wasn’t there much, but I’m just glad we got a win.” He added: “I don’t even know how to describe it. It was a lot. I was there for the birth of my daughter, so that means everything to me. But it was definitely a roller coaster.” Rui Hachimura added 17 points while Deandre Ayton recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds during a night Austin Reaves struggled to find his rhythm. Reaves, averaging 29.3 points entering Sunday, finished with 11 points but on 3-of-16 shooting to go with five assists and four rebounds. Ayton shot 7 of 7, the second time in his career he shot perfectly from the field in a game where he took at least five field goal attempts. The first time came in the Nov. 8 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. “We have a lot of guys that, if you get good looks, they can knock ’em down,” Reaves said. “But then you obviously have Luka, LeBron and sometimes myself that can make a little tougher shots. And when you have an offense that can generate a lot of points, then yeah…I didn’t play great, and we could still get a win.” James, coming off his record double-digit scoring streak ending against the Raptors at 1,297 games three nights prior, looked more like himself on Sunday night. He barreled his way to the rim in transition and from the post. James assisted teammates on scoring opportunities in a variety of ways. He knocked down catch-and-shoot 3-pointers when the opportunities presented themselves. “His play throughout the game gave us such a lift,” Redick said. “One of the things that he did extremely well was screen. And using his gravity to create an advantage, either for the handler or getting behind, roller behind, and then playing out of that. So he certainly scored the basketball, made some huge shots, huge shots down the stretch. But really, on a night when Austin didn’t have it, and Luka clearly, with all the travel he’s had this week, wasn’t [necessarily at] his best scoring the basketball, still did a lot of great stuff for us, and ended up with the triple-double, LeBron was like our connector. The second action stuff was huge.” And when the Lakers needed one final push to get over the hump at Xfinity Mobile Arena, they got a vintage possession from James, with the four-time MVP iso-ing Quentin Grimes and hitting a step-back 20-footer to put the Lakers up 110-105 with 27 seconds left. “I don’t think LeBron needs confidence,” Redick said while laughing. “It’s important to be reminded every now and then of what you’re capable of. And for him to have the injuries, and then to sort of start the season playing catch-up in a way, and start the season playing catch-up with a team that is also in a really good rhythm. As a player, I don’t care how good you are, that’s tough to figure out.” James hit his signature “Silencer” and crown celebrations after his last bucket. “Clutch gene,” Ayton said of James’ play late. “Felt like a movie.” Ayton added: “It was a G.O.A.T. [greatest of all time] moment. I was loving it. I had stopped celebrating just to watch him, so I don’t miss nothing. It was a movie.” Sunday’s victory was the Lakers’ first win in Philadelphia in exactly eight years. Before Sunday, the Lakers’ last road win over the 76ers came on December 7, 2017 – before even James joined the organization in the summer of 2018. The 76ers were led by 28 points and 9 assists from All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey. Joel Embiid added 16 points but shot 4 of 21 from the field. Andre Drummond added 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. The 76ers jumped out to a 60-53 halftime lead after the Lakers struggled to contain the speed of Maxey, who scored 15 first-half points on 6-of-10 shooting. The Lakers held the 76ers to 48 points on 17-of-51 shooting in the second half. “It was just physicality,” Doncic said. “The start wasn’t as good as we should but in the last six minutes of the first quarter, we established our defense, and we got out and ran. If they want to run us, we can run them.” Doncic assisted James twice during a run in the fourth that James scored 10 straight points, with his final 3 giving the Lakers a 108-105 lead with 1:12 remaining. “Just at 40 years old, I mean, it just takes a while for my body to kind of get back into a rhythm,” James said. “And so it felt good to kind of feel like myself a little bit, being able to run and jump and cut and catch my second win a lot faster. Hopefully that stays.” With the victory, James (1,015) moved past Robert Parish (1,014) into second place on the NBA’s all-time list for regular-season wins by a player, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Related Articles Lakers’ Marcus Smart could return to lineup Wednesday against Spurs Lakers’ Luka Doncic expected back Sunday after birth of his daughter With Luka Doncic and LeBron James out, Lakers get crushed by Celtics Luka Doncic could rejoin Lakers for Sunday’s game against 76ers Alexander: Was it really that surprising that LeBron made the right play? ...read more read less