Many saw the Nets-Lakers clashes Saturday night as a prelude to the NBA Finals. But that bore no resemblance to championship basketball.
By the time the teams left, three superstars were already missing. A quarter pulled away when Kyrie Irving was sent off early in the third quarter. And when it was over, what was left of defending champion Lakers won what was left of the Nets, 126-101, in front of 1,773 disappointed fans at the Barclays Center.
The League trade has been under study at some point this season, and will return after Irving and Lakers goalie Dennis Schroder were sent off for the first time in 18 combined NBA campaigns. , about what seemed to be nothing more than the court gagging each other.
Kevin Durant led the Nets with 22 points, and expelled Irving scored 18 in 21 minutes. But that wasn’t the only reason the Nets (36-17) lost this one. They did not need any help from the officials to do so. For the root cause of this defeat, just look in the mirror.
The Nets played without MVP candidate James Harden with tense hamstring muscle. But they faced a Lakers team that not only missed superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but also Kyle Kuzma and Marc Gasol.
It didn’t matter: signing signing Andre Drummond was enough for the Lakers.
“This would be a fantastic challenge for us [facing them healthy]”Nious coach Steve Nash said.” because AD is the best small ball center and LeBron is the best four of small ball, at least in last year’s qualifier.
“I think it only gives them options, depth and another facet. If they want to make it big, they have another guy who can do a lot of things in the center position. Choose your poison. They would be great with the smaller version of their front track or the big one. “
There were many lamentations from the CEOs of the small market when the Nets came to the buying market to land big men LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin. But Griffin finished with just two points, while Aldridge was harassed for much of the night by Drummond (20 points, 11 rebounds).
So physically dominant was Drummond that Nash tried to avoid even using him on top of young Nic Claxton. And while the occasion seemed to demand DeAndre Jordan, the 6-foot 11, 265-pound was left out of the rotation and on the bench for the fifth straight game.
The Nets allowed a 50.5 percent shot (19 vs. 34 from 3 points away) and eight Lakers scored in double figures, including Schroder, who had 19 in just 20 minutes.
The Nets were largely outscored from the start, trailing 11-2 after a 3-point Schroder with 9:33 left in the first quarter.
Drummond isolated himself at Aldridge and went on to take the lead to the Lakers at 18-7. The Lakers hit seven of their first eight (3 of 4 from depth) and the tone was set the rest of the night by a team that didn’t look forward.
“Honestly, my mentality is to try to win [Saturday’s]) game, really. It’s nothing more than that, “Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.” We don’t look down the road. “
At one point, Drummond struggled with four Nets to get a rebound, Irving even threw himself to make it five against one. Do not care. Drummond still corrected it, as the Nets hit the tables at first.
With the Nets falling 49-39 in the middle of the second quarter, they mounted a 17-3 run to take the lead. A setback from Durant scored it at 52, with four minutes left for the half.
Durant crossed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and sank at Drummond to give the Nets the lead. This caused Durant’s mother, Wanda, to cheer in the front row. Aldridge finished the race and gave the Nets a 56-52 lead.
They couldn’t stand it.
With the Nets finishing 66-62 and 9:41 of the third, Irving and Schroder began to jaw each other and were kicked out.
Leaving the floor, Irving threw the shirt to the fans as he headed for the locker room. He took with him any impulse the networks had.
The Nets immediately gave up a 22-9 run and fell behind 88-71. It continued to grow from here in the fourth quarter when the Networks exploded.