Lakers roll past the high-powered Nets in an in-sync scoring night.
The short-handed Lakers completely shocked everyone by defeating the high-powered Brooklyn Nets 126–101. With tonight’s win over the Nets, the Lakers stay afloat in the Western Conference moving their record to 33–20, keeping them in 5th place in the West. The Lakers shot a season-high 55.9% (47 of 93) from the three-point arc highlighting one of the reasons for tonight’s big win. On the defensive end, they were able to force the Nets to shoot a season-low 18.5% on 5 of 27 from the three-point arc. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel spoke on the defensive effort on the Lakers part tonight saying: “When we play scrappy on the defensive end we’ll always have a chance.”
The Lakers came into tonight’s matchup against the Nets without LeBron James (right ankle sprain), Anthony Davis (right calf strain), Kyle Kuzma (left calf strain), Marc Gasol (left hamstring soreness), and Wes Matthews (Right Achilles tightness). They were able to get past the Nets behind 8 Lakers scoring in double figures. Another key factor in tonight’s win was the ejection of Kyrie Irving in the 3rd quarter along with Lakers Dennis Schröder who both were arguing with each other. Irving was dealing before he was tossed from tonight’s game, scoring a game-high at the time 18 points on 6 of 11 (54.5%) shooting from the field. Schröder was also dealing before his ejection, scoring 19 points and adding 4 assists on 7 of 11(63.6%) total shooting. Schröder talked about tonight’s win for the Lakers saying: “This is the best win of the year I would say.”
The Brooklyn Nets also were without a superstar just like the lakers. They were without one of the best scorers in the NBA James Harden, who missed today’s game due to a hamstring strain. That is what makes this Nets team very dangerous as they can have one or two of their big three to have an off night or be out. They just needed one of them to go off for a big night, but tonight wasn’t the case as Durant’s efforts wasn’t enough to beat the short-handed Lakers.
The Lakers recent buyout market additions Andre Drummond and Ben McLemore had a huge performance tonight for this Lakers squad making Lakers general manager Rob Palinka continue to look like one of the best GMs in the NBA. Andre Drummond finished with 20 points that led all Lakers and 11 rebounds, notching his second double-double in a Laker uniform. Ben McLemore finished with a bench-high 17 points on 5 of 10 (50%) shooting from the three-point arc and 6 of 12 (50%) total from the field. McLemore spoke on his shooting tonight saying: “Once I see one go in, it’s a wrap. It don’t take much for me to get hot.”
The Lakers starting lineup combined for 81 points on the night with their bench adding 45 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 14 points and 5 assists on 5 of 10 (50%) shooting from the field and 4 of 6 shooting from the perimeter. Markieef Morris added 14 points and 6 rebounds on 6 of 8 (75%) shooting total and 2 for 3 (66.6%) from the three.
20-year-old sophomore Talen Horton-Tucker started his 3rd career game this afternoon due to the injuries the Lakers suffered. In 34 minutes of action, Horton-Tucker finished with 14 points, a career-high 11 assists, and 3 steals. Despite his career-high and huge effort, Horton-Tucker wasn’t able to remain consistent from the field going 4 for 16 (25%) total.
The Lakers will travel to New York this Monday for their 5th road game of a 7 game road trip to face the 26–27 New York Knicks. They will face a former Laker draft pick and now all-star Julius Randle, who is averaging 22.8 points a game this season. Look for the Lakers to carry their momentum into a Monday matchup against the Knicks to keep their win streak alive.