NETS WINNING STREAK ENDS:
The Brooklyn Nets’ two-game winning streak ended on Monday night, as they fell 105-95 to the Los Angeles Clippers. Brook Lopez scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but the Nets faded in the fourth quarter, snapping the winning streak and dropping their record to 2-2 on their current nine-game road trip.
The Nets return to the scene of the crime on Tuesday, when they face the Lakers at Staples Center. Brooklyn lost the first meeting between the teams 104-98 at Barclays Center on Nov. 6. Lopez had a game-high 23 points, while Kobe Bryant had a team-high 18 points for the Lakers.
ELLINGTON LEAVES GAME:
Wayne Ellington left Monday’s Nets-Clippers game with 6:02 to play in the third quarter after a collision with DeAndre Jordan. Ellington left to get checked for a possible concussion and did not return. The Nets guard had 13 points on Monday, as he continued his hot play, hitting double-digits for the 12th time in 14 games.
KOBE BRYANT OUT:
Hope you said your goodbyes to Kobe Bryant when he was at Barclays Center.
Bryant will miss Tuesday’s game with a shoulder injury, meaning the future Hall-of-Famer has already played his last game vs. the Nets, as he’s retiring at the end of the season.
To recap Bryant’s career, he is NBA’s third-leading scorer of all time (33,318 points), a five-time NBA champion and 18-time All-Star.
Bryant isn’t scoring 25 points-per-game anymore, but he is leading a young Lakers team with 17.1 this season, and averaged 22.3 ppg in February.
LAKERS:
Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour has been a nice distraction in an otherwise trying season for the Lakers, who are currently 11-49, have lost eight straight games and are last in the NBA’s Western Conference. The focus is on the future for the purple and gold, who are looking to develop a crop of young players including D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle.
Russell – the second-overall pick in June’s draft – is averaging 12.4 ppg and leads the Lakers with 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals-per-game. Randle – the seventh-overall pick in 2014 – leads the team with 10.1 rebounds-per-game.
Both Randle and Russell, along with Jordan Clarkson, are playing starting minutes for the Lakers, who will likely be in the running for LSU’s Ben Simmons at the end of the season.