Please, no more partie -- I mean games in L.A.
For the second consecutive night, the Nets lost in Los Angeles. Only this time, the loss came against a young Lakers team (7-5), 125-118, at the Staples Center. The Nets, now 4-7, have lost consecutive games for the second time this season.
The Nets trailed by just five at halftime, but another horrid 3rd quarter did them in. At first, you want to commend them for their efficient offense, which scored 34 points. Then you look on the other side of the box score and see 37 points for the Lakers.
Hard to commend.
The Nets fell down by as many as 13, but fought their way back and cut it to four with three minutes remaining. Bojan Bogdanovic and Brook Lopez both had big nights to keep the offense afloat, but they couldn’t get stops down the stretch, nor come up with the big bucket when they needed it most.
The night was recapped when down six with one minute remaining, Brooklyn turned the ball over in transition.. In other words, they had their chances, they failed to capitalize. Frustrating for those who stayed up to watch.
Bogdanovic had one of his best games in a Nets uniform. He scored nine straight points in the third quarter, turning into that Olympic version of himself. He finished the night with 29 points, and one monstrous dunk over Timofey Mozgov. Take a look...
Brook Lopez also had himself a big night with 30 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. He also hit four 3-pointers. With his third block, Lopez moved past George Johnson for most blocks in Nets history.
As for Los Angeles, D’Angelo Russell had himself a night, scoring 32 points with seven 3-pointers – five that came in the first quarter. It was his second monster night against a Nets team. His career high, 39 points, came last year vs. Brooklyn.
Starting at the point (and out of position) was Sean Kilpatrick. He had a hard time covering Russell and committed five personal fouls before Yogi Ferrell came in. Ferrell had another solid night, impressing mostly in place for Kilpatrick with 11 points and four assists (plus-7). Suddenly, the undrafted rookie out of Indiana is the fifth leading scorer among NBA first year men.
Ever the optimist, Kenny Atkinson found things to praise.
"We know the areas we need to improve," Atkinson said. "But we gave ourselves a chance. We bounced back from a tough loss. We’ve got to sustain longer on defense, but on the positive side, we had 66 paint points. We’re getting to the rim."
"I love Brook’s competitive spirit," Atkinson added. "He really gave us a boost. We feed off his energy, and I love how he competed on the defensive end."
It was a fun game for two young teams that have exceeded early expectations thus far. For the Nets, they’ll look to close out the road-trip with a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
Get better soon, Jeremy.
3rd quarter woes:
As it says in the tweet, the Nets have the 2nd-worst Net Rating in 3rd quarters this season.
#Nets are the NBA's 2nd worst 3rd quarter team with a NetRtg of -22.9. No surprise there. (Via: @JimPeteHoops) pic.twitter.com/hDMBI2VGpv
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) November 16, 2016
And it's getting worse.
- Box Score - Nets vs. Lakers - NBA.com
- Game Highlights - Nets vs. Lakers (Video) - NBA.com
- Bojan Bogdanovic dunks with authority (Video) - NBA.com
- Clarkson plus one (Video) - NBA.com
- Blocked by Booker (Video) - NBA.com
- D'Angelo to Clarkson (Video) - NBA.com
- Nets vs. Lakers (Gallery) - Brooklyn Nets
- Russell, Randle push surging Lakers past Nets, 125-118 - AP
- Russell, Randle push Lakers past Nets - Reuters
- Nets undone by poor rebounding in loss to Lakers - Brian Lewis - New York Post
- Bojan Bogdanovic is waking up, even if his 3-pointer isn’t - Brian Lewis - New York Post
- Brook Lopez scores 30 but Nets can’t stop D’Angelo Russell, Lakers - Greg Logan - Newsday
- Young Los Angeles Lakers Show Brooklyn Nets What Might Have Been - Steve Lichtenstein - CBS New York
- Lopez and Bogdanovic combine for 59, but the Nets lose late to Lakers (Game Grades) - Benny Nadeau - The Brooklyn Game
- Lakers fend off the Nets, 125-118 - Jesse Daugherty - Los Angeles Times
- D'Angelo Russell's early energy, defense help lead Lakers past Nets, 125-118 - Mark Medina - Orange County Register
- Wednesday's Lakers News: Russell's energy, defense key in win over Nets - ESPN LA
- Lakers vs. Nets Final Score: Julius Randle’s triple-double powers Lakers to 125-118 victory - Drew Garrison - Silver Screen and Roll