The Los Angeles Lakers will wrap up their five-game road trip Monday night in Philadelphia as they host the 76ers on the second night of a back to back.

The Sixers are playing their second game in as many nights as well, as they were in Cleveland Sunday afternoon. In a closely contested game, Philadelphia lost to the Cavaliers, 87-86. The 76ers had many opportunities to beat the Cavaliers, but they missed five straight field goals and four crucial free throws down the stretch. Actually, both teams went scoreless the final three minutes and 38 seconds of the game.

Robert Covington scored a team-high 19 points and hit five three-pointers, but the Cavs got double-doubles from three different players to hang on to win it.

The Lakers were in Brooklyn Sunday afternoon, shorthanded but looking to play spoilers. In a game where they never led, the Lakers fell to the Nets, 107-99. Byron Scott, as he has been doing lately, rested Carlos Boozer and Ed Davis this time while activating Jordan Hill. In his return, Hill had a masterful night, scoring 22 points and gobbling a season-high 16 rebounds.

The downside was that the Lakers were unable to stop Brook Lopez from scoring in the paint as the big man notched 30 points and 11 rebounds. In addition, Markel Brown scored a career-high 17 points, while Joe Johnson flirted with a triple-double.

The Lakers and 76ers are battling for lottery positioning at this point in the season. The two teams met not too long ago, in a game where Jeremy Lin scored a season-high 29 points to lead the Lakers to a 101-87 victory at the STAPLES Center.

Philadelphia’s offense has been horrendous all season long as they rank dead last in points per game, field goal percent, and free-throw percentage. They are also second to last in three-point percentage. The one facet of the game that keeps them alive is their defense. Led by Nerlens Noel, who has been averaging 14.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, and 2.5 steals in the month of March, the Sixers are in the middle of the pack when it comes to defensive ranking.

Speaking of Noel, he has made a strong case for the Rookie of the Year award as he has climbed up to number one on NBA.com’s weekly rookie ladder. There is no question that the 20-year old Kentucky product has a bright future ahead of him.

Coming into this game, Coach Scott is likely to rest more of his players as he continues to assess his young guys. Additionally, Lin is considered questionable due to an upper respiratory infection. The Sixers, contrariwise, are the healthiest they can be at this point.

The two teams have split the season series the last two years, with each team winning on the road both years.

The game tips off at 7 pm Eastern Standard Time.