LOS ANGELES – Ahead of the showdown with the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night at the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that Kyle Kuzma wouldn’t be playing along with LeBron James who has been out for more than a month.

Without the team’s two best scorers on the floor against one of the best teams in the NBA, the Lakers were in trouble, and that was evident early as the 76ers came out firing on all cylinders.

Ultimately, Joel Embiid and company proved to be too much to handle for Luke Walton’s squad, as expected. However, there was one positive to take away from this game as it was a big night for Brandon Ingram.

The third-year forward put on a show on Tuesday night as he went on to torch the 76ers for a career-high 36 points. Ingram scored 22 points in the first half and was able to keep it going in the second half.

Even though the team cut into the lead with a 16-0 run at one point, the team couldn’t get over the hump and fell to Philadelphia, 121-105. Walton talked about Ingram’s performance after the game and was impressed by his ability to take what the defense gave him.

“He was great from halfway through the first and on,” Walton said of Ingram. “Guys had careless turnovers to start the game, but to me, that shows a lot of growth. That I can get on him, yell at him for something like that, and then he can lock in and continue to follow the game plan and elevate his game as he goes. I thought he was doing a nice job of getting to his spots and staying on balance and not forcing it. He got his first one blocked, and he started reading how they are guarding him. It’s just a lot of basketball, take what the defense is giving you and don’t force it. Just take what they give, and he did a nice job of that tonight.”

Veteran point guard Rajon Rondo also chimed in on Ingram’s performance. Rondo added an interesting tidbit about what the young forward told him earlier in the season.

“He told me a long time ago, probably first two-three games of the season, he feels he can score the ball against anyone, and that’s his mindset going into the game,” Rondo said of Ingram’s scoring. “I just try to put him in a position where he can get to the spots, but obviously, that’s on him. He makes his own plays, and he’s great at it, so I give him a lot of credit. He works on his game.”

With Kuzma and James sidelined, Ingram has been able to showcase his talent on the offensive end of the basketball floor. His career-best 36-point performance on Tuesday is the fourth time in five games that he’s been able to score 20 or more points.

Unfortunately, the Lakers won only one of those four games, and it came against the lowly Suns.

As uncertainty continues to loom over LeBron’s return and whether Kuzma can bounce back quickly from his hip issue, Ingram may need to keep lighting up the scoreboard on a nightly basis. The Lakers will face the L.A. Clippers on Thursday as the home team followed by another matchup against the Golden State Warriors on the road on Saturday night.