After going 4-3 to start their longest road trip of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers looked to end it on a high note on Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Lakers got Austin Reaves back after missing a month and a half due to a calf injury, although he came off the bench and was on a minutes restriction. Regardless, the Lakers were able to easily take care of business, beating the Nets 125-109 to improve to 30-19 on the season.
L.A. got off to a nice start in this one as Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Jake LaRavia were all locked in front the jump, turning defense into easy offense. After a couple of step-back triples by Doncic, the Nets needed a timeout as the Lakers led 26-11.
Everything was going right for the Lakers in the first quarter as Doncic was unconscious and they were moving the ball well. Reaves then entered an immediately got fouled to end the quarter, giving the Lakers a 45-23 lead.
Not much changed in the second quarter as the Lakers continued to pour it on. After missing his first two shots, Reaves made two in a row as he began to regain his rhythm. He then threw an alley-oop off the backboard to James, who threw down another monster dunk in transition to get the crowd on their feet.
After leading by as many as 38 though, the Lakers let go of the rope a bit to end the half and went into the locker room with a 69-40 lead.
Reaves looked so good in the first half that JJ Redick put him out there with the starters to begin the third quarter in place of LaRavia. Considering Reaves was on a minutes restriction though, part of the reason for him joining the starting group was for him to get his minutes in before the fourth quarter since the game was a blowout from start to finish.
Similar to the second quarter, the Lakers had a poor close to the third but still took a 100-74 lead into the fourth.
L.A. quickly got the lead back to 30 at the start of the fourth quarter, allowing them to empty the bench and cruise to the easy win.
What’s next for the Lakers…
After the conclusion of their long road trip, the Lakers will now return home for matchups with the Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks leading up to the All-Star break.
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