Dec. 18, 1963 - The Lakers sputtered and stumbled on occasion tonight, but for the most part they resembled a division champion as they romped to a 116-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers before 5,462 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. They increased their lead to 1½ games over second-place St. Louis, which lost to San Francisco, 104-96. For three years as the Syracuse Nats, the visitors couldn’t win a game in the Sports Arena, and neither the new name nor the new coach, Dolph Schayes, could change things for the injury-riddled 76ers. Philly was missing star forwards Lee Shaffer and Dave Gambee, so Elgin Baylor and his mates took early control of the boards and never gave it up. Sparkling spurts of shooting overcame 19 turnovers, 14 of them in the second half, when the Lakers looked sloppy much of the time. But they had built up a good lead at halftime, and with Baylor and Jerry West finding the range, the Lakers were in command all the way. Jerry West, who wound up outscoring Baylor 30-28, bounced back from his poorest performance of the year last Sunday, hitting key baskets that kept the always hustling 76ers from catching up in the second half.
