LOS ANGELES – You can come close, but you can’t win them all.
Anthony Davis missed the potential game-winning three-pointer by a hair and the Lakers suffered only their 8th home loss of the season, dropping a 104-102 nail bitter to the Nets Tuesday night.
Frank Vogel’s squad got the shot they wanted and came incredibly close to completing the comeback after tying the game moments earlier on a 25-footer from AD. LeBron James drove the lane and attracted the double team, freeing Davis to shoot wide open from the left wing.
After defeating the Bucks and Clippers on Friday and Sunday, the purple and gold snapped a four-game winning streak.
“I thought there was potential for a letdown,” Vogel said. “Obviously, it was an emotional weekend with two heavyweights coming in here. Brooklyn is not on their level, but they’re a playoff team and we’ve struggled with them a little bit, both in the preseason and in the first half when we played them in Brooklyn.”
L.A. last led at 73-71 midway through the third quarter before going on a dry spell that saw Brooklyn open up a nine-point lead.
James and Davis took over and brought the team back, but this time they fell just short.
They were both dominant, with James finishing an assist short of his 14th triple-double of the season. He had 29 points, 12 rebounds, and nine dimes.
The star duo combined for 36 of the Lakers’ 44 points in the second half.
Davis was excellent once again after intermission, scoring 12 in the third quarter and another six in the fourth.
His long-range make with 43.1 seconds left and this offensive rebound and layup were key in giving the Lakers a chance to win it in the last possession of the game:
In the end, they just couldn’t overcome their turnovers (15), foul issues (22, leading to 23 Nets’ free throws) and offensive rebounds allowed (14) on a night where Kyle Kuzma (14 points) and Avery Bradley (10) were the only other players in double digits.
“I thought our guys played with great effort throughout the game, played extremely hard,” Vogel said. “We didn’t make shots down the stretch in the second half, but I was proud of at least our effort.”