Brooklyn gets back in the win column.
Facing a LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers squad in hopes of snapping their seven-game skid, the Brooklyn Nets were in dire need of a victory. In a rematch of Jan. 17's slim loss, the Lakers visited the Barclays Center, giving D'Angelo Russell a second chance to secure a victory against his former team.
This time, Russell got his revenge in a 111-108 Brooklyn win.In a first quarter clinic, things couldn't have gone worse for Brooklyn. Lowlights included conceding 13 points to Gabe Vincent, allowing two seprate that combined for a 20-1 stretch and shooting just 1-of-6 from the free-throw line. No Brooklyn player managed to score over six points as the Lakers capitalized on a stagnant Nets offense sans Cam Thomaspourous defense. However, as the frame came to a close, head coach Jordi Fernandez's lineup began digging into its 15-point hole. Almost identically to the visitors, a balanced offensive attack responded with two equally game-changing runs once the scoring attack finally emerged. Courtesy of Tyrese Martin's -point quarter, the Nets crawled all the way back to tie the game with 2:28 to play in the first half. Nearly a minute later, after Luka Doncic bounce-passed to Dalton Knecht in the lane for an emphatic slam, Cam Johnson buried a top-of-the-key three to claim the lead. Unable to convert on their final possession of the second quarter, the Lakers squandered their double-digit lead, resulting in a 48-47 Brooklyn advantage through 24 minutes of play. The hosts' reemergence continued immediately into the third quarter. Keon Johnson sank an early triple, capping off yet another 11-4 Nets run, extending Brooklyn's lead to eight. Despite the evident momentum shift, Los Angeles rallied back behind its exciting young rookie. Dalton Knecht countered with two three-pointers and one mid-range floater, trimming the differential to just one. Following the surge, the Nets and Lakers traded buckets for the remainder of the frame, yet Brooklyn clung to a two-point advantage with one quarter to play. With neither side able to create any sort of breathing room for almost half of the final frame, Johnson and Noah Clowney assumed control of the matchup. The latter drilled a 25-footer before the former sliced through Los Angeles' transition defense en route to a two-handed slam. With that sequence, the Nets built a seven-point cushion, placing pressure back on Doncic and company heading down the stretch. Desperate for a win, Russell nailed a left-wing three-pointer with a minute-and-a-half to play, hitting the eventual dagger while halting Brooklyn's losing streak at seven. Now back in the win column, the Nets must gear up for the second half of a back-to-back tomorrow night against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Eastern Conference clash at Rocket Arena will serve as the final meeting of the 2024-25 campaign between the two, a series Cleveland leads 2-0.Kyler is a staff writer for Brooklyn Nets on SI, where he covers all things related to the team. He is also the managing editor of The Torch, St. John's University's independent student-run newspaper.
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