The Los Angeles Lakers were in a difficult spot schedule-wise and suffered a letdown loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday evening.
The Los Angeles Lakers came into Tuesday night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets as the hottest team in the NBA. They had won four games in a row and 11 out of 12. The most recent stretch showed just how strong the Lakers are, as they defeated the Milwaukee Bucks and LA Clippers over the weekend.
Many people though the Lakers would keep rolling, but they suffered a scheduling loss to the Nets on Tuesday night.
The Lakers used a lot of energy against the Bucks and Clippers in nationally televised games. Following tonight’s game against the Nets, the Lakers host the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets before a home-and-home with the Utah Jazz. If Los Angeles was ever going to suffer a letdown game, it was going to be against the Nets.
The NBA did the Lakers no favors with that schedule, but the Nets did what they had to do to get the job done and pick up a win.
Spencer Dinwiddie led the way for Brooklyn with 23 points, including the game-winning basket with just about 28 seconds remaining in the game. He added seven assists, four rebounds and one steal.
Caris LeVert also had a strong game for Brooklyn, scoring 22 points with seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block.
LeBron James did everything he could to put his team in position to win, but the Lakers just couldn’t get over the hump. James missed a layup on the team’s final possession of the game which would have tied things up at 104.
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Despite that, James still shot 12-of-22 from the field and 4-of-9 from distance, scoring a game-high 29 points. He finished one assist shy of another triple-double, grabbing 12 rebounds with nine assists.
Anthony Davis scored 26 points, going 9-of-19 from the field and 4-of-8 from the 3-point line. He was set up beautifully by James on the final shot of the game for a wide-open 3-pointer, but he was unable to knock it down. He rounded out his stat line with eight rebounds, two assists and one block.
Kyle Kuzma scored 14 points off the Lakers’ bench, but the unit, as a whole, didn’t have as positive of an impact as they normally do. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was the only member of the bench to finish with a positive plus/minus ration.
This was a tough loss for the Lakers. They were riding a huge wave of momentum after defeating the Bucks and Clippers for the first time this season. They were legitimately putting pressure on the Bucks for the best record in the NBA, but have now given a game back against a team they should have defeated.
You can be sure that they will be ready to play Thursday. They were the first team to face the Rockets and their micro-basketball, so they will be more prepared for it this time around.