Coming off the most lopsided loss in franchise history—a 59-point massacre against the LA Clippers—the Brooklyn Nets got a chance to avenge themselves in Southern California. At Crypto.com Arena, they suffered their seventh loss in the last eight games, falling to the Anthony Davis-less Los Angeles Lakers 102-101.
D’Angelo Russell led Brooklyn with 19 points and eight assists, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Austin Reaves’ career-high 38 points.
This one began eerily similar to the unacceptable performance against the Clippers, as neither team was able to find their shooting stroke, but the Nets maintained a slim lead.
That was until Brooklyn was met with a four-minute-long scoring drought, seemingly unable to will the ball through the hoop.
Again without Cam Johnson, there was no go-to scorer on the offensive end, forcing Jordi Fernandez’s crew into a balanced attack.
For what it’s worth, the visitors led for most of the first quarter. It took a buzzer-beating three-pointer from LeBron James—who fell two points short of becoming the all-time leading scorer against the Nets in just 10 minutes—to give the Lakers a one-point lead.
Three minutes into the second quarter, James reached the milestone, surpassing Michael Jordan as the ultimate Net-killer while tallying his 13th point in as many minutes.
Despite a potential vintage performance from the Lakers’ star, Tosan Evbuomwan wasn’t about to let Brooklyn fall behind.
Coming off the bench, he rattled off three straight, finishing the first half with six points and three rebounds.
James finally got some help late in the quarter as Reaves caught fire.
He ended the half with 16 points, but the combined 13 from Evbuomwan and D’Angelo Russell cut Los Angeles’ once-11-point lead to just six at the break.
The third quarter played out almost identically.
Instead of Evbuomwan and Russell, Ziaire Williams and Jalen Wilson took charge.
The Nets’ young wing duo caught fire from beyond the arc, but the continued brilliance of James and Reaves prevented Brooklyn from taking the lead.
-Still, the balanced, pace-controlling attack reduced the Nets’ lead to just four heading into the final stretch.
As soon as the fourth quarter commenced, the teams began trading triples.
Six minutes into the closing stanza, 10 combined three-pointers had been made, preventing either side from pulling ahead by more than three.
With 3:45 left in regulation, Reaves buried his fourth deep shot, surpassing his career-high in scoring while handing the Lakers an eight-point advantage.
But Brooklyn wouldn’t go away. Seconds after the Reaves bomb, Russell answered with one of his own, again creating just a two-possession game.
Down four with a minute to play, the Nets’ turned to Noah Clowney.
He’d bury a corner three, cutting the deficit to one.
After a Reaves missed-dagger, with the game on the line, the ball would fall into the hands of Russell, the former-Laker.
Unfortunately, he’d be too strong on a top-of-the-key three, resulting in the one-point loss.
Having completed five of Brooklyn’s six-game road trip, Fernandez and company shift focus to Sunday evening’s matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7 p.m. EST.
To access the final score from the Nets’ win/loss to/over the Lakers, click here.
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