Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner lead Sixers over Lakers, 103-99

LOS ANGELES - Arriving at the fourth quarter with a lead, no matter how large or small, has benefited the 76ers all season long. And on Tuesday against the Lakers in Los Angeles, it was no different.

The Sixers (15-17) took an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter against the Lakers at Staples Center and held on for the 103-99 victory.

The Sixers have led games 14 times this season after three quarters and won every one of them. They defeated the Lakers behind 26 points and 10 assists from Jrue Holiday, 22 points and 12 rebounds from Evan Turner, and 13 points and five rebounds from Spencer Hawes.

More importantly for the Sixers, though, was the completeness of the game. They never trailed in the second half.

"That was big for us," said Holiday, who committed just one turnover as the Sixers ended a two-game losing streak at Staples Center. "Coming out and getting the lead and not having to fight back was huge for us."

Sixers coach Doug Collins has been saying that when the Sixers play defense they are at their best, something that was clearly evident on Tuesday. The Lakers are the fifth-highest scoring team in the league (103 points per game), and they shoot the ball pretty well (45 percent) on most nights.

However, the Sixers held them to just 39.4 percent shooting (37 of 94). And after allowing the Lakers to make a franchise-high tying 10 three-pointers in the first half of a 111-98 win, the Lakes made just 3 of 22 from behind the three-point line.

"When they beat us in Philly they were just making those threes like it was easy," Turner, who had his best game in quite some time, said. "But tonight we were committed to playing them tight and playing a whole game. That was key for us."

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with a game-high 36 points. However, Bryant was 14 for 29 from the field and had to work for his points. Bryant didn't receive much help from a starting lineup that is supposed to be formidable. The other starters – Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Darius Morris and Steve Nash shot a combined 9 for 34.

Guilty of playing too many incomplete games that often feature slow starts, none of these things happened on Tuesday.

They scored 54 points in the first half, the most they have scored in the first half of a game since they scored 54 against Charlotte on Nov. 30. And they never trailed in the second half.

"We beat them in the first and the third quarter and that definitely helped us," Turner said. "A lot of guys stepped up and we executed the way we are supposed to. It was a good win all the way around."

The Sixers, who play three sets of back-to-back games on this current road, play at Phoenix on Wednesday. They will get a day off and then play what is likely to be their most daunting back-to-back of the season - Friday against the Thunder in Oklahoma City and Saturday against the Spurs in San Antonio.

If there is a silver lining to this recent stretch of road games, it is that the Sixers will get the opportunity to make up some ground, playing 13 of their next 15 at home.