Austin Reaves & LeBron James lead Lakers to shutout win over Nets

The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, looking to build on their comeback win against the Miami Heat.

These two teams made a trade a few weeks ago, trading D’Angelo Russell for Dorian Finney-Smith. The latter was out of this game for personal reasons, while the former would certainly go for his former team. Anthony Davis was also a late scratch for the Lakers due to plantar fasciitis.

In the end though, it was the Lakers who came out on top in a close one, beating the Nets 102-101.

Jaxson Hayes started in place of Davis and got the scoring started on a dunk off a feed from Austin Reaves. Rui Hachimura then threw down a thunderous dunk of his own to get the crowd going.

With Davis out, the Lakers’ defense predictably struggled early, allowing the Nets to take the early advantage until Max Christie tied the game at 15 with a triple.

Both offenses slowed considerably from there until Russell came in and made a layup on his first shot against his former team. LeBron James then finished the first quarter with back-to-back 3s to give LA a 24-23 lead.

Reaves got going offensively to begin the second as the Lakers began to build a lead, getting it to double digits for the first time. Both teams were extremely sloppy to finish the first half, but the Lakers still went into the locker room with a 51-45 lead.

The Lakers came out flat to start the third quarter as the Nets quickly cut their deficit to one, forcing a JJ Redick timeout.

Gabe Vincent helped get the Lakers back on track with five straight points, though neither offense beyond that was able to get much going as the game remained sluggish. After an acrobatic finish by James to end the third, LA took a 72-68 lead into the fourth.

The Nets started heating up from deep to begin the final quarter, allowing them to regain the lead momentarily before James answered with a triple of his own. The floodgates finally opened from there offensively as both teams traded 3s back and forth.

Reaves continued his big night with bucket after bucket as the Lakers finally started to get some separation. His previous career high of 35 points was surpassed with about four minutes remaining, and he finished with 38.

However, the Nets continued to fight and got within one in the final minute. Russell got a good look as time expired, but missed, giving the Lakers the win.

What’s next for the Lakers…

The Lakers return to action Sunday night when they take on the LA Clippers in the team’s first game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

Do you have subscribe to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to see player interviews, exclusive event coverage, attend live shows and more!