Brooklyn’s nine-game home winning streak came to an end with a 126-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night at Barclays Center. It was just the third home loss over 21 games since Jan. 12 for the 36-17 Nets.
Down by three at halftime after shooting 63.2 percent in the second quarter, the Nets saw the Lakers break the game open with a 15-2 run late in the third quarter, with Los Angeles extending its lead to 21 points 90 seconds into the fourth quarter.
“I thought that they were the aggressor,” said Nets head coach Steve Nash. “They were more physical. They hit first. We didn’t match their physicality and competitive fire. This is what you get. This is a team missing a bunch of guys and guys get an opportunity and their eyes light up and they came out and played harder more than us, played more physical than us, and it’s a great lesson for us.”
Outside of that second quarter, which included a 17-3 run that saw the Nets briefly take their only lead of the game, Brooklyn struggled on the offensive end against the league’s highest rated defense. The Nets shot 16-for-61 in the other three quarters — 26.2 percent — and made just 5-of-27 3-pointers on the night, including shooting 0-for-16 in the second half.
Kevin Durant led Brooklyn with 22 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, returning to the starting lineup in his second game back after missing two months with a hamstring strain. LaMarcus Aldrige scored 12 points for the Nets.
With 9:41 remaining in the third quarter, Kyrie Irving was ejected, as was Los Angeles guard Dennis Schroder, after each drew two technical fouls during a dead ball situation. Irving finished with 18 points and four rebounds.
Los Angeles jumped out to an 18-7 lead, making seven of its first eight shots, and carried a 33-25 advantage into the second quarter.
“They just played with more urgency to start the game,” said Durant. “I mean, they hit us in the mouth early, and we were fighting uphill the whole game. Then, they got hot. You come in the game, guys who haven’t played as much get more opportunities and they’re playing free and they came out and hit us in the mouth. So you’ve got to; they’re the champs. You’ve got to respect it.”
Brooklyn trailed 49-39 midway through the quarter before exploding into the lead. Irving’s circus scoop layup launched a 17-3 run. Durant followed with a mid-range jumper, Irving made two free throws, and Adridge dunked home a Joe Harris feed.
After a Talen Horton-Tucker 3-pointer for the Lakers, Irving answered with his own triple. Durant put back a transition rebound to tie the game at 52, then went end-to-end on his own for a dunk and the lead. Aldridge’s inside finish put the Nets up 56-52.
The Lakers answered with a 9-0 run before Aldridge scored to make bring the Nets within 61-58 at halftime.
“I thought we found some offensive rhythm,” said Aldrige. “I thought we kind of shook off the rustiness and slow start. But then after halftime I thought we had another slow start, they kind of ran away with it. But just got to be better, better defensively, more physical, more active, everything.”
The Nets trailed 66-62 when Irving was ejected just over two minutes into the second half, and they were still down by four before the Lakers broke out for a 15-2 run to take an 88-71 lead with four minutes to go in the quarter. Los Angeles took a 92-77 lead into the fourth quarter.
Ben McLemore opened up the fourth quarter with consecutive 3-pointers to push the Lakers’ lead to 21 points. Brooklyn cut the lead to 15 points, but with McLemore scoring Los Angeles’ first 11 points of the quarter, the Lakers went up 105-83 with 8:29 remaining.
“We weren’t sharp,” said Nash. “I thought the physicality was one factor for sure, but we didn’t play our best game, and as you’ve seen this year, there’s all sorts of scores like this. It’s gonna happen. It hasn’t happened very often to us. It’s bound to happen at some point. It’s how we react to it, what we learn from it, and how we move forward.”