Brooklyn Nets Dominate Second Half, Defeat Los Angeles Lakers 130-112

January 20, 2024 Agada Basketball  0

 

The Nets set a franchise-record for points against the Lakers, turning a competitive contest into a rollicking blowout after halftime.

The Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers had the unenviable task of following up the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics on ESPN’s Friday night slate. It was always going to be tough for the worldwide leader to follow up a fantastic game between the defending champions and this season’s best team, but a matchup between the West’s 10-seed and the East’s 11-seed didn’t offer much promise.

Then again, not many Nets games lately have. The 3-14 stretch over their last 17 games has somehow been more miserable than the record indicates. That misery has manifested in myriad ways, most recently Spencer Dinwiddie’s poor play being called into question by the national media…

And early in Friday’s West Coast contest, it looked like the misery would continue. After half-a-quarter, the Nets trailed 22-11, unable to guard a soul while the offense continued living down to its 3rd-worst rank in January.

Then, Cam Thomas entered to give Brooklyn the spark they needed. He’d end up scoring 33 points in 32 minutes, but his 20-point first half was simply electric. Playing against the Lakers he grew up rooting for, he barely hit the rim on his jumpers, but mean-mugged and pranced around after all of them, even pointing at Austin Reaves after sending him to the floor:

https://twitter.com/BrooklynNets/status/1748558024157892760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1748558024157892760%7Ctwgr%5E0324f4ca781fc52f1dc5d8d6540df9d3daa082c3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.netsdaily.com%2F2024%2F1%2F20%2F24044801%2Fnets-vs-lakers-130-112-cam-thomas

Thanks to Thomas’ efforts and improved defense in the second quarter, the Nets were able to hang around, withstanding L.A.’s hot start from three. A deficit as large as a dozen was halved to a respectable 68-62 score by the break.

Outside of Thomas, the first half was a story of revenge— D’Angelo Russell raced out to 17 early points against his former team, leading the alongside Anthony Davis’ 17. On the other side, Lonnie Walker IV scored ten in just six minutes against his previous employer, on his way to a 15-point performance.

In the third quarter, the starters stepped up. They opened the frame on an 18-6 run, and never looked back. Dinwiddie, undoubtedly motivated by some combination of playing in his hometown and the chatter surrounding his play, scored 13 of his 19 in the third quarter. He also assisted Brooklyn’s second-leading scorer on the night, Nic Claxton, a couple of times at the rim.

Even with Davis on the floor, Claxton was the game’s best big after halftime. He rebounded like a menace, and contorted his body to finish unconventional lobs repeatedly. Clax also showcased a signature coast-to-coast take, besting AD on both ends:

After a 3-pointer from Mikal Bridges (17 points) gave the Nets their first lead of the night at 76-74, it was an avalanche. The Lakers were tired and frustrated, stepping out of bounds and missing bunnies at the rim when they weren’t arguing with the zebras. Outside of their three leading scorers in D’Lo, Davis, and LeBron James, L.A. had nobody to rely on for buckets, and put up a dismal offensive showing in the second half.

Thus, Brooklyn’s lead just kept growing. Not only was the shot-making was contagious, with six players making multiple 3-pointers (19-of-47 as a team), but the energy was too:

It didn’t matter who the Nets put on the floor in the second half, everybody brought it. However, it was a three-guard lineup featuring Thomas, Walker, and Dennis Smith Jr. that officially shut the door on the Lakers.

While Smith Jr. dove on the floor for loose balls and drove to the rim, Thomas continued to cook and traded daggers with Walker. Whether they were majestic layups in transition or step-back triples over LeBron, they turned Crypto.com Arena into a crypt, the only audible crowd noise on the broadcast coming from a jubilant Brooklyn bench.

The Nets needed this, so much so that even after building an insurmountable lead in the fourth quarter, they kept the starters in to bask in the victory (and maybe pad some stats). Up by 20 with under three minutes left, Cam Johnson (ten points) finished off an uncontested fast-break opportunity as Lakers fans were filing out, then stuck around to steal the inbounds pass.

On Friday, the Lakers learned what’s been drilled into every Brooklyn fan over the past month: When it rains it pours.

After such a cathartic win, only one question remains: Where has this team been? You know, the team that started 13-10 and, just as importantly, was fun to watch on a nightly basis.

No, they won’t shoot 40% from deep on nearly 50 attempts every night. Cam Thomas won’t shoot 13-of-18 every night. They made shots, yes, but forced turnovers, ran in transition, and played with a trash-talking swagger. That’s the Nets team we missed; whether the shots fall or not can’t determine their spirit.

It is one hell of a bonus, though.

Final Score: Brooklyn Nets 130, Los Angeles Lakers 112

 

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