D’Angelo Russell misses shot to win it as Nets lose to Lakers

LOS ANGELES — This time, the Nets showed some heart. But they got it to pieces.

D’Angelo Russell’s Hollywood comeback story just missed a happy ending.

His potential game-winning jumper in the final seconds from 3-point range was wide, and the Nets were left aggrieved by what they say was a blown call on Noah Clowney’s rebound attempt.

Oh, and they were beaten 102-101 by the Lakers before a crowd of 18,473 at Crypto.com Arena.

Trailing 102-95 with 2:22 left, the Nets scored six straight points and nearly made nine unanswered to win.

After they finally forced a miss from Austin Reaves — who led the Lakers with a career-high 38 points — the Nets rebounded with 18 seconds left and Jordi Fernandez avoided a timeout.

He let Russell have the last look and it certainly seemed like a storybook ending. But Russell missed with 4.6 seconds to play.

“I mean, when you look back on it in hindsight, there’s probably more things I probably could have done,” Russell said. “For (Fernandez) to trust me to make and take that shot, respect. I feel like I owe him one. Gotta make one now.”

“I loved it, man. We were all sitting on the bench talking like ‘Yo, it’s written. This is part of history. It was meant to be,'” said Ziaire Williams, who had 15 points. “It looked good, man . Great shot, rhythm, size up, got his stop. I love it. I will live or die with that shot all day. He’s been making that shot his entire career. So like I said, man, that was a great, great game. They were only one point better than us.”

Russell finished with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds off the bench in his first game against the Lakers since being traded to the Nets on Dec. 29.

“I was anxious. No emotions, no nothing. I think as a competitor I’ve been traded a few times. Once I’ve been traded, I take it personally and I just keep moving forward, ” said Russell, who just missed a chance for a payback.

“Man, it looked good. Not good for us. But the ball looked good in the air. It wouldn’t have been in that position if I didn’t miss about four shots in a row. But yeah, I’ve seen him make that shot a million times,” Reaves said. “I’ve seen him make that shot. And luckily it didn’t go in. So thank you. But yeah, he played a heck of a game.”

Hell of a game leading a depleted Nets team without Cam Thomas or Cam Johnson.

Russell scored nine in the fourth quarter — but Reaves had 15.

LeBron James had 29 points, eight assists and seven boards, the last of which left the Nets annoyed.

Clowney rushed to get the offensive rebound, but James got it.

The Nets felt their young bigs were wronged on the play.

“I think it was. But I don’t expect them to call it at that point in the game, late in the game,” Clowney said. “Yeah, it really is.”

“I’m going to let these guys with experience take the shot. And it was a shot that I’ve seen (Russell) make a lot of times,” Fernandez said. “And like I told him in the locker room, I’m going to let them go.

“And not only his shot, but I also love the fact that Noah crashed right there. And he was molested in my opinion. But now we’ll wait for the (last) two-minute report, which is what the league does, and that we’re going to see the reality of it.”

The Nets (14-28) have lost seven of eight and 10 of their last 12.

None had been more embarrassing than Wednesday’s 126-67 loss at the Clippers.

They trailed by 64 at one point, and their final margin was the worst in franchise history and among the bottom 10 all-time in the NBA.

The Nets put it in their backcourt and responded against the Lakers, but they just weren’t good enough.