After five straight bankruptcies, the Los Angeles Lakers have ended their losing streak, even without LeBron James. In the 116:103 win against the Brooklyn Nets, Anthony Davis dominated, the Nets are mostly cold from a distance. A brief gasp from Kevin Durant is not enough.
Los Angeles Lakers (3-10) – Brooklyn Nets (6-8) 116:103 (BOXSCORE)
The Nets had little to nothing to match Davis in the zone. If you factor out the extended garbage time, then thanks to AD the home side won the duel in the zone with 54:40. The big man set a personal best of the season, scoring 37 points in 34 minutes (15/25 FG) and grabbing 18 rebounds, 10 of them on the offensive board.
LeBron missed a second straight game with an adductor strain, but Lonnie Walker IV was there with strong support for Davis. The guard sank 4/5 threes en route to 25 points. Austin Reaves threw in 15 points (3/4 threes), Russell Westbrook put in some good phases and had 14 points (but 4/15 FG, 1/6 threes), 12 assists and 6 rebounds with 4 turnovers.
As a team, LA scored almost 41 percent from long range (11/27) and thus significantly better than the Nets, who were completely cold for long stretches of the game (7/27 three-pointers). Accordingly, Brooklyn was behind the entire game, only in the third quarter did Durant start a comeback attempt. With 31 points (8/16 FG), 9 rebounds and 7 assists, KD was almost alone in the field, otherwise only Cam Thomas (15) and Edmond Sumner (13) were able to convince with cutbacks.
Los Angeles Lakers end bankruptcy streak – Davis dominates
Lakers coach Darvin Ham sent a new starting five into play for the ninth time in the 13th game of the season, Reaves replaced Wenyen Gabriel in the top five. The Nets briefly missed Ben Simmons (knee), Seth Curry was rested as planned and Kyrie Irving is still serving his suspension. Last but not least, Nic Claxton was forced out early with an eye injury.
Both offenses initially had trouble getting into a rhythm. The first quarter went to the Lakers with a slight advantage (26:22), Westbrook also set an early highlight, when he blocked a KD jumper from behind. Brooklyn remained completely cold from a distance in the second quarter (2/16 three-pointers at halftime), but things went better for the Lakers. LA pulled away to 14 points and still went into the dressing room with a 55:46 lead.
Only towards the middle of the third quarter did the Nets slowly crawl back into striking distance, but further misses from downtown prevented them from being able to shorten further. On the other hand, AD continued his good first half after the break, scoring 15 points in the third quarter and keeping Brooklyn at a distance (+16) – until Durant ran hot. The two-time Finals MVP sparked new life at the Nets, a 16-3 run brought Brooklyn back to 77-80 by the end of the round.
A crashing driving dunk by Westbrook started the fourth quarter, a little later Walker IV followed up with his next triple and Davis increased the Lakers lead to 11 points with a dunk. A KD turnover and another putback slam by Davis in the middle of the fourth quarter even put him at +17 – the highest lead of the entire season. The somewhat drained Nets now had no more answers.
NBA: Die Stats-Leader bei Lakers vs. Nets
| Category | Lakers | Nets |
| Points | Anthony Davis (37) | Kevin Durant (31) |
| Rebounds | Anthony Davis (18) | Kevin Durant (9) |
| Assists | Russell Westbrook (12) | Kevin Durant (7) |
| Steals | Troy Brown Jr. (2) | Royce O’Neale (2) |
| Blocks | Beverley, Westbrook (you 1) | Kevin Durant (2) |
