After dropping Friday's game to the Pacers in Indiana, the Lakers restarted their roadtrip in Brooklyn with a clear mandate - sweep the final three games, all coming against weak teams.
And on the one hand, the Lakers did some serious work early, running out to a 17-0 lead, while ballooned to 31-11 by the end of the first quarter. That gave them some wiggle room over the final three quarters, and unfortunately the Lakers decided to use it. Particularly in the third quarter, where the Lakers committed a parade of turnovers that let the Nets cut a lead that had grown as high as 26 back down to single digits. Chalk up some of them to to decent play from Brooklyn, but most of them were simply a result of sloppiness from LA. It was the difference between an easy win where the starters need to play deep into the fourth and one where LeBron, Anthony Davis and Co. could have sat down much faster.
There were plenty of good stat lines. LeBron James had 40 points, tying a career high with nine 3-pointers (on only 10 tries). Anthony Davis finished with 24/14. Rui Hachimura finished with 20 points on a very efficient 8-12 shooting. As a team the Lakers were over 54% from the floor, and held Brooklyn to 42%. Literally the only reason the Nets had a chance was because the Lakers let them.
The Lakers only had two points off the bench, a bucket from Gabe Vincent, who played 14 minutes in his first game in months, and only his sixth overall. The Lakers tried a few different lineup combinations, and have some choices to make going forward. Do you trust Darvin Ham to manage this?
In the end, it was a game much like others they've played this year -- plenty to like, but just enough to shake your head at to keep it from being fully satisfying. But they got the win they needed, and now can head to Toronto with a chance to keep a 5-1 trip alive.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky (with guest Daman Rangoola)
SEGMENT 1: The Lakers get up big early, close strong.
SEGMENT 2: How should the Lakers integrate Gabe Vincent?
SEGMENT 3: Do the Lakers still have strong postseason prospects?
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