Sixers Lose Second in a Row

December 1980

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 34 points and Jamaal Wilkes added 30 last night to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 122-116 victory over Philadelphia in Inglewood, Calif., handing the 76ers their second loss in a row and sixth in 39 games.

It marked the first time this season the 76ers have lost two games in a row. They lead the Celtics by 3 1/2 games in the Atlantic Division.


Los Angeles broke open a close game with a 35-point third period in which Wilkes scored 13 points, hitting six of eight field-goal attempts, and Abdul- Jabbar had 11 points, hitting five of seven.

The Lakers hit 14 of 23 field goals in the third period to take a 91-79 lead after the score had been tied at halftime 56-56.

The closest the 76ers came in the final period was 108-101. But Abdul- Jabbar, Wilkes and Norm Nixon then scored two points each in the next two minutes and the Lakers eased to the victory.

Los Angeles also received outstanding performances from several reserves with Michael Cooper scoring 15 points, Eddie Jordan making four steals and Mark Landsberger adding nine points.

Philadelphia was led by Julius Erving's 26 points, his season average, but he scored just eight points in a 26-minute stretch of the second half when the Lakers were padding their lead.KINGS 102, NETS 99

Scott Wedman scored 10 of the Kings' last 17 points to give Kansas City a 102-99 victory over the New Jersey Nets in Piscataway, N.J. It was New Jersey's fifth straight loss.

Wedman's jumper in the final minute put the Kings ahead, 98-96. Otis Birdsong, who scored 35 points, followed with a basket and Sam Lacey hit one foul shot to give Kansas City its final score.

The Nets' Mike Newlin, who had 21 points, hit a three-point field goal at the buzzer.

The Kings were ahead by just 58-56 midway through the third quarter when Birdsong scored 16 of 20 points in a streak that put them ahead, 78-62. But the Nets came back to outscore them, 21-2, largely on 11 points by power forward Maurice Lucas, who ended with a game-high 39 points.