The Los Angeles Lakers snapped their losing streak earlier this week against the Miami Heat and had an excellent opportunity to stack another win against the hapless Brooklyn Nets.
Unlike the Lakers, the Nets are wholly focused on rebuilding their team and have already dealt away several veterans. The remaining players are nowhere near good enough to win many games during the 2024-25 season, though they’ve been a feisty bunch under first-year head coach Jordi Fernandez.
Both teams wound up being shorthanded as Los Angeles ruled out Dorian Finney-Smith and Anthony Davis, while Brooklyn was without Cam Johnson and Cam Thomas. In one of the ugliest offensive games to date for the purple and gold, they managed to hold on to beat the Nets 102-101.
The Lakers nearly blew the game at the end as Austin Reaves missed a shot near the paint and D’Angelo Russell had an opportunity to win it at the buzzer. Fortunately for L.A., Russell’s 3-pointer was off the mark and the Lakers would survive for the win.
On a night when both teams couldn’t buy a bucket for most of the night, Reaves was the constant for the Lakers offense. Reaves had been struggling from the floor in recent games, but against the Nets he got whatever look he wanted.
Reaves dominated the fourth quarter, knocking down several tough 3-pointers to keep Brooklyn at bay. He also found LeBron James in transition for the game’s best highlight as the King was able to rise up for the lob and throw it down much to the delight of the Crypto.com Arena crowd.
Reaves set a new career-high in points with 38 on 13-of-23 shots including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. He was also perfect from the free throw line, going 8-for-8.
With Davis out, James knew he had to pick up some extra scoring slack and he did just that as he was aggressive getting to the rim against the smaller Nets players. James also had it going from distance, hitting four of his six attempts en route to 29 points. James also chipped in with eight assists, seven rebounds, one steal and two blocks.
Bench scoring has been a problem for Los Angeles this season, though Gabe Vincent provided a spark with 10 points and solid defense.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will take on the L.A. Clippers at Intuit Dome on Sunday before returning home to take on the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
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