The Los Angeles Lakers defense took most of the night off, but when they are this hot shooting the basketball, it doesn’t even matter.
The Lakers hit a season-high 21 threes and LeBron James posted another triple-double as they pulled away for a 128-113 win over the Brooklyn Nets. James finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists to lead the way while both Anthony Davis (16 points and 11 rebounds) and Dwight Howard (14 and 12) posted double-doubles. Six Lakers made multiple triples on the night led by Danny Green‘s four on his way to 14 points.
Their second straight game in New York went much different from their first. In Madison Square Garden, it was the team’s defense that carried them on a rough offensive night. In Brooklyn, the opposite was the case.
The Lakers led by five after a first half that was an offensive shootout and saw very little defense from either side.
The Lakers shot 56 percent from the field and hit 11 three-pointers while getting 33 points from their bench including 13 from Kyle Kuzma. The Nets countered by hitting 52.2 percent from the field and 10 three-pointers of their own while getting 39 points from their bench led by 14 from Caris LeVert.
It looked as if the Lakers were ready to lock things down in the second half as they quickly pushed the lead to 13 early on in the third quarter, but Brooklyn wouldn’t go down quietly. Every time the Lakers hit a three, the Nets had an answer.
Brooklyn got the lead down to one, but the Lakers went on a 26-4 run between the third and fourth quarters to put the game away, highlighted by Jared Dudley‘s buzzer-beating three to end the third.
The Nets were led by Kyrie Irving who finished with 20 points and had three players score in double-figures off the bench.
The Lakers also got big contributions from their bench led by Kyle Kuzma’s 16 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 11, Alex Caruso added eight points as did Jared Dudley who saw an increase in minutes due to JaVale McGee sitting out with flu-like symptoms. Rajon Rondo also added 10 assists in leading the second unit.
The win improved the Lakers record to 36-9 including a 20-4 road record. They also improved to 6-0 on the second night of back-to-backs this season.
Next up is the finale of their Grammy road trip, a Saturday night showdown with the Philadelphia 76ers.