The Lakers were hoping to bounce back from an embarrassing loss to the Washington Dumpster Fires on Sunday evening. Their chance for redemption came against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center in New York. Fate wasn't in their favor tonight as former Laker D'Angelo Russell (22 pts, 13 assists, 4 rebs, 9/21) put on a show from start to finish in a W for the surging Nets 110-115. Brooklyn has now won six in a row while the Lakers stare blankly into a much different reality. This loss concludes their road trip with a 1-3 mark on a 2-game skid.
This game was frustrating as hell for Scorum's resident Laker fan (me). The effort wasn't bad tonight and they almost rallied at the end...but they kept jacking awful three's when they clearly weren't feeling it. Not to mention, Tyson Chandler sat while we were getting destroyed on the interior! I had no idea why Luke Walton didn't put Chandler back in when he's our only reliable big with JaVale McGee out. This was a shit game. Lonzo's stat line (23 pts, 6 rebs, 3 assists, 2 steals, 9/16 FG, 5/9 3 PT FG) was one of the lone signs of encouragement. LeBron also had a typical LeBron game of understated amazingness (36 pts, 13 reb, 8 assists, 23/23 FG). The bottom line is, if we are going to let Jared Dudley of all people ball out against us, we deserve to lose it. Check out the game recap and takeaways below
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Game Recap
First Quarter
The opening minutes of the first were a beautiful start to the contest. The Lakers couldn't find their shooting touch so they opted to score on some hard Kyle Kuzma drives to the rim. Brooklyn was playing a slightly cleaner game than the Lakeshow, punctuated by a smooth D'Angelo Russell three to go up early 10-13. But Lonzo Ball, who replaced Russell on the Lakers two years ago, took that as a personal insult and chucked up a three of his own which splashed! Tie ballgame 13-all at the seven-minute mark. The start of the ongoing Lonzo/Russell battle throughout this game.
Then Lonzo started feeling it out of that timeout. He was 4/5 from the field with 11 points, but picked up another quick foul to come out with two. The teams continued to exchange three's until they neared the 30-point mark at 28-all. Los Angeles got a Moe Wagner sighting who promptly nailed a LeBron-assisted three. Lance Stephenson proceeded to have a couple boneheaded possessions before Los Angeles got the ball back in LeBron's hands. Brooklyn ended up with a slight advantage after one quarter of play, 32-33.
Second Quarter
The second quarter evolved into a three-point parade! Both sides made their fair amount but we were getting bricks for what seemed like half the time. LA just had no answer for the sharpshooting of D'Angelo Russell. He looked like he was in full revenge game mode tonight. This is the first time I can recall D'Angelo being fully healthy and in a groove in a match against the Lakers.
While Russell was making the Lakers pay for playing down on their drop coverages, LeBron was charging to the rim in a hunt for dunks and fouls. Dueling LeBron and Russell with a little bit of Lonzo and Kuzma peppered in. LeBron hadn't nailed that roof-raising slam that the crowd was anxious to see yet, but his missed dunks were noticeably loud.
It was an overall ugly half of basketball ended with a Spencer Dinwiddie and-1 that propped the Nets up by five, 57-62. LeBron had 17 pts on 5/11 shooting while Lonzo poured in 13 on 5/9. The effort was there for the Lakers. They just botched the little things that would've vaulted them ahead in this close contest.
Third Quarter
The Nets fired off a three to kick things off in the third, but LeBron and Zo came right back with two buckets of their own. Still, as Joe Harris nailed a retaliation three I was soberly reminded that every time the Lakers had momentum Brooklyn would just shut them down. Kudos to the Nets for nailing their shots on the perimeter. Nine-point Brooklyn lead with eight minutes to play, 65,74.
After a quick timeout, the Nets pushed the deficit to thirteen. LA's defense looked alright, but their shots just didn't look right tonight. Lots of hard clangs on the back rim as Luke Walton and company scrambled to adapt to a surging Nets squad. Not having JaVale McGee's presence as a lob threat or rim protector was really hurting the purple and gold.
The Nets lead hovered around ten, but it felt like twenty because the Lakers just couldn't hit shit. Still, they insisted on shooting three-balls until they started to fall. LeBron led a late rally that cut it to seven after the first three quarters of play, 83-90. Off to the fourth we went.
Fourth Quarter
The Laker defense was anemic to start the fourth. You could tell they were frustrated on the offensive end, but the defense was just inexcusable. Thankfully, LA went on a run spurred by Lonzo and Kuzma three's to cut it to seven 93-100. A little less than seven minutes left to play.
After a Brooklyn timeout LeBron came up HUGE with two paint buckets and a block to make it a three-point game. 5:40 to play 97-100. It seemed like anybody's game until the Nets responded with layups off of poor rim protection to stretch it back to seven. The Lakers didn't have a traditional big out there - they needed to put Tyson Chandler back in there ASAP.
Still no Tyson Chandler, but the Lakers scored five quick ones to make it a two-point game. Brooklyn was still punishing them hard on the interior. It was just cut after cut by the Nets and they capitalized every god damn time.
The game almost seemed lost as they were down by six, but Lonzo nailed a triple to cut it to three 105-108! But right after that excitement Jared Dudley stepped up and drained a huge long two that put them up by five with less than a minute to play. dudley had been making big plays all night on cuts and beyond the arc. Who else would do it but him?
LeBron quickly got a paint bucket in the next possession to cut it to three. Less than a minute remaining. D'Angelo Russell held the ball for the majority of the shot clock, faced up Kuzma and drained what may have been the deciding shot with 22 seconds remaining...But LeBron came out of the timeout and sunk this incredible off-balance corner three! three-point game Brooklyn ball with 17 to go. The Nets nailed their free throws though which put this game out of reach. Brooklyn wins 110-115.
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Takeaways
An exhausting, disappointing end to the four-game road trip. They could've easily swept this trip when you look at the teams on paper, but I think all this traveling took an effect on them. It came to a head in their fourth quarter defense. Letting dusty ass Jared Dudley blow by you on the perimeter is a mortal sin. I still think Chandler should've been in there to defend the paint instead of whoever was in charge of this small ball lineup - that's on Luke. I didn't see any injury happen. Did I miss something? Why the hell wasn't he out there?
JaVale not playing had an undeniable impact on this game. The Lakers are kind of banged up now without JaVale, Rondo, Ingram, and with a seemingly hobbled Hart. They should all be coming back for Friday's game based on what I've heard. I'll personally roll out the welcome matt and drive them to Staples Center if they want. If you're reading this Rondo Ingram or JaVale, hit me up!
With Ingram's return comes a feeling of uncertainty about how he'll re-integrate into the offense, but firm confidence in our defensive capabilities as a whole. Ingram, like Lonzo, has been a switchable beast on defense this year despite inconsistent offensive output. JaVale will additionally be an obvious boost at both ends while Rondo will bring a point guard's mindset to the second unit that we desperately need.
The basketball kitchen got hot in the fourth quarter, and the Nets just endured the heat a little better thanks in part to their home court advantage. The Lakers would've taken this one if it was at Staples. They had chances to go ahead but they just didn't sink them. Here's to them bouncing back against the Pelicans on Friday night. Beware of another revenge game contender in that one - Julius Randle.
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