Nets get reality check in blowout loss to shorthanded Lakers
Kevin Durant had a blank stare in his eyes.
It was the end of the third quarter. Durant, in his second game back from a hamstring strain, was approaching his minutes limit. Kyrie Irving had been ejected after jawing with Dennis Schroder, and James Harden missed his fifth straight game because of his own hamstring.
The Lakers didn’t have LeBron James or Anthony Davis, but what was clear on Saturday night was they didn’t need them. The reigning NBA champions flexed their defensive effort in an impressive 126-101 victory over the Nets in a measuring stick game that showed how much distance Brooklyn needs to close.
The Nets never looked ready. Offensively, no one was on the same page. LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin were of little effect against Mount Vernon’s Andre Drummond, who signed with the Lakers instead of the Nets on the buyout market. Drummond finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, his bruising presence too much for the Nets to overcome.
Lakers big man Montrezl Harrell also feasted on the interior. Maybe the Nets should have played DeAndre Jordan, who hasn’t seen the floor since the Aldridge acquisition.
“If they want to go big, they have another guy that can do a lot of things at the center position,” Nets head coach Steve Nash said of the Lakers centers pregame. “Pick your poison. They’d be very formidable with the smaller version of their frontcourt or the big one.”
The Lakers led by as many as 26. Their game plan: Make the Nets work for every shot they take. Brooklyn got few open looks and Irving was the hot hand early with 18 points in his first 21 minutes. He then took exception to something Lakers point guard Dennis Schroder said, and both were ejected after a pair of double technical fouls. Irving was also on the receiving end of a Marcus Morris swing-through elbow to the face, which earned Morris a flagrant foul one in the first half.
Durant played 24 minutes, up from the 19 he played against the Pelicans after missing 23 straight games with a hamstring injury. He finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists, a performance punctuated with a coast-to-coast baby poster of a one-handed stuff over Drummond. But he turned the ball over eight times, was out of place on a number of occasions and also appeared to hurt his right quadriceps, though he shook it off and continued to play.
The Lakers outscored the Nets by 13 in the minutes Durant played. The Nets were only minus-three in Irving’s minutes before his ejection.
The Nets sorely miss Harden, their MVP candidate whose teammates uniformly credit for making their lives easier. Harden assumed the role of point guard, moving Irving to the shooting guard earlier this season, and the Nets have thrived.
Harden’s absence is no excuse. The Lakers did not have their two best players, and James and Davis completely transform the way the Lakers both attack and defend. As good as the Nets can be when they get on the same page — and a clean bill of health with Harden, Durant and Irving — Saturday night’s performance showed just how much ground the Nets must make up if they want to realize championship aspirations.
Back to Durant’s blank stare toward the end of the third quarter. Will the Nets have enough if they make it to the big dance?
