Albeit the Sixers improved slightly over the past few weeks, they still find themselves seven games out of the playoff picture. Thus, Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers will face another tough challenge when the Los Angeles Lakers are in town on Saturday at midnight GMT.

Unlike for the 76ers, the season has been going very well for L.A. up to this point. Even though the Lakers slowed down a bit as of late and dropped five of their last ten, they are still the best team in the Western Conference with an impressive 33-11 record. Obviously, Phil Jackson’s squad has plenty of individual talent in Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest. However, the Lakers showed the ability to perform on both ends of the floor and are among the better defensive teams in the league as well, holding their opponents to just 96.8 points per contest. So far, Kobe Bryant appears to be on his way to another MVP trophy, as he put up 28.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.7 steals in 38.5 minutes per game.

Philadelphia on the other hand is far away from being an elite team and would be thrilled to even have a shot to make it to the playoffs down the stretch. Being among the worst teams in the league with an unsatisfying 15-29 record, neither the outstanding performance of Andre Iguodala nor the addition of Allen Iversion was enough to carry the team. Likewise, former All-Star Elton Brand continued to underachieve and was subsequently moved to the Sixers’ bench two weeks ago. Although Philly likes to push the ball up the floor in transition, they still have trouble to find the basket at times, averaging just 97 points per contest. Much like last year, guard-forward Andre Iguodala led the team offensively, putting up 17.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per night. Considering the weaknesses of the 76ers, the Lakers will evidently enter their encounter with Philadelphia as everyone’s favorites to come away with a win at Wachovia Center. Although the Sixers have been playing better in the past two weeks, it appears to be questionable whether it will be enough to challenge Pau Gasol and company.

You can watch all games of the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia76ers right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of NBA live streaming.