The Los Angeles Lakers had a clear defensive plan to shut down the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center Tuesday — throw bodies at James Harden. The Beard got his licks in throughout but ultimately couldn’t surmount a LeBron James-led Lakers at home. The Nets fell 106-96, but Los Angeles’ lead felt larger than it actually was.
The Lakers just had more weapons than the Nets had available and they used them. With limited options to go to offensively, the turnovers piled up for Brooklyn and Los Angeles exploited it. The Lakers had 27 fastbreak points on the night, including a pair of back-breaking transition dunks from James in the fourth quarter. The Nets had a good opportunity to come back in the early fourth, but couldn’t do much with it.
On the whole, it was apparent that the Lakers had an easier path to victory. They had the ability to go to James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and a hot-handed Malik Monk. Aside from Harden, the Nets had just two double-digit scorers on the night: Patty Mills and DeAndre’ Bembry.
Brooklyn shot 42% from the floor, 25.9% from deep and 68.2% from the line. Even though they had a commanding lead in the rebounding category, with 54 boards to the Lakers’ 33, they didn’t finish their extra opportunities and wasted a Harden triple-double.
Here are some player grades from Tuesday’s loss.