Lakers struggle defensively in tonight’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Brooklyn Nets and their high-powered offense were too much for the Lakers tonight, giving them their 8th loss on the season with a 109–98 victory over the defending champions. With tonight’s loss to the Nets, the Lakers record moves to 22–8 and they still remain in 2nd place in the NBA behind the 24–5 Utah Jazz.
The Lakers came into tonight’s matchup without all-star Anthony Davis and starting point guard Dennis Schroder. An hour before the game, it was reported that Schroder would not be playing due to a health and safety protocol. Frank Vogel said he was really looking forward to the matchup between Dennis Schroder and Kyrie Irving. The Nets were also without an all-star tonight as Kevin Durant has been dealing with a hamstring injury for the past 2 games.
Even without Kevin Durant, this Nets team is still one of the best teams in the NBA with all-stars James Harden and Kyrie Irving. But tonight the Nets Joe Harris was the player who had a stellar performance of this Brooklyn team as he couldn’t miss from the perimeter. Joe Harris finished second in scoring for the Nets tonight with 21 points on 6–7 shooting from 3. James Harden led the way for the Nets tonight finishing with a team-high 23 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds on 7–15 shooting from the field.
In tonight’s loss, the Lakers shot 27% from the 3 point arc, going 8–30 compared to the Brooklyn Nets 46% from 3 going 18–39. The Lakers also lead the game in total turnovers finishing with 16 on the night. On the night the Lakers finished 40–83 total from the field and 10–14 from the free throw.
LeBron James added another historic stat to his exceptional resume tonight becoming the fastest player to reach 35,000 points on the NBA all-time scoring list. James still remains in 3rd place on the all-time list behind Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone. LeBron spoke with the media after the game about his accomplishment of supposing 35,000 points saying:
“I’m very humbled and very grateful to be a part of a great league.”
In tonight’s defeat to the Brooklyn Nets, Lebron James finished with a game-high 32 points, 7 assists, and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes. On the night James shot 14–23 from the field but struggled from the perimeter finishing 1–6. In the past 4 games, LeBron James has shot 3–19 from the 3.
Lakers reporter Mike Trudell asked LeBron James about the Lakers inconsistency shooting from the 3 and what he noticed saying:
“We want to get better quality shots, we want to get the ball into the interior and swing the ball. We had some really good looks, it just didn’t go down for us.”
The Lakers as a team from the 3 point arc in the past 5 games:
Vs. BKN: 8–30 (26%)
Vs. MIN: 11–26 (44%)
Vs. DEN: 6–28 (21%)
Vs. MEM: 6–30 (20%)
Vs. OKC: 10–35 (29%)
In 4 of their last 5 games, the Lakers have shot under 30% from 3.
Outside of LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma had the best night for this Lakers team. In 34 minutes tonight, Kyle Kuzma finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 7–13 shooting from the field. Tonight’s 16 and 10 performance is Kyle Kuzma’s 7th double-double of the season. So far Kuzma has been great in the replacement role for the injured Anthony Davis. look for Kuzma to have a huge performance soon in his stint in the starting lineup.
The Lakers will be facing a healthier Miami Heat team this Saturday who looked great tonight with a huge victory over the Sacramento Kings. Jimmy Butler is back after being out for some time due to health and protocol. The Lakers will have to come out with a lot of energy on Saturday against the Heat to bounce back from tonight’s loss.