76ers end road slump in L.A.

LOS ANGELES - The last time the 76ers won a road game was the day after Halloween. The victory over the Wizards in Washington faded in the rearview mirror as the Sixers traveled a long and difficult road, one on which they could not win away from the Wells Fargo Center.

But on Sunday night, Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner helped their team to its second road win of the season, 111-104, over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

The victory ended the Sixers' overall losing streak at two games. It was their first road win since the victory over the Wizards, a drought of 13 games.

"This is a much-needed win," Young said.

The Sixers (9-21) are now 2-13 on the road. This win should provide a much-needed boost during the final three games of their West Coast road trip. The Lakers (13-18) extended their losing streak to five games.

Young finished with a team-high 25 points. The 6-foot-8 power forward also had nine rebounds, three steals and three assists. Turner, a 6-6 guard, added 22 points, seven rebounds and team-high six assists after missing Saturday's setback at Phoenix with a sore right knee.

The duo combined for 17 of the Sixers' 25 fourth-quarter points.

"We are two of the three leaders on this team," Young said. "So we have to kind of step up in the midst of when the fire is getting ready to start.

"I think we did a very good job of staying poised and making shots, and just being patient."

With the Sixers clinging to a 98-97 cushion, Turner scored a fastbreak layup and made an 18-foot jumper to give his team a 102-99 lead with 3 minutes, 45 seconds left.

Young scored his team's next five points on a layup and a three-point play to give the Sixers a six-point cushion with 1:15 to play. Then Turner put an exclamation point on the win with a reverse dunk with 0.8 seconds left.

Former Sixer Nick Young paced the Lakers with a game-high 26 points off the bench. He struggled through 6-of-21 shooting - including going 2 for 11 on three-pointers.

Lakers power forward Pau Gasol missed his second consecutive game with an upper respiratory infection. Reserve point guard Xavier Henry left the game with a strained right knee and did not return.

The Sixers came into Los Angeles determined to snap their road skid. And it didn't take long to realize that it was a possibility.

The two teams played through five lead changes and three ties in the first half. But things looked bleak at the start.

Shooting 4 for 5 from the field, the Lakers jumped out to a 12-2 lead. The Sixers, however, went on a 16-4 run to take an 18-16 advantage on Young's layup with 3:03 left in the first quarter.

After four lead changes, the Sixers went on to lead by nine points four times in the second quarter. The last time came when Young's layup with 5:56 before intermission made it 40-31.

But the Lakers battled back and slowly chipped at the Sixers. Then Young, who had been struggling, hit a three-pointer to knot the score at 52-52 with 4.2 seconds before intermission.

The Sixers, however, dominated the third quarter.

They built a commanding 79-66 lead after James Anderson's three-pointer with 3:19 left in the quarter.

But as they've done before, the Lakers battled back into the game. It was not enough to beat the Sixers this time.

Contact and follow Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers.