After losing to the Washington Wizards in their first game of a three game road trip the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Brooklyn Nets. Chris Kaman was available to play tonight after missing the last three games with a sore back. With a win tonight the Lakers can get back to .500 and get their 11th straight victory over the Nets.
First Quarter
The Lakers got off to a great start taking an early lead with Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks knocking down three pointers. Gasol recorded four quick points after hitting a layup and a turnaround jumper. The Nets get a couple of layups and a dunk but found themselves down 15-6 early and cannot match the Lakers intensity. Blake with his third and fourth assist did a great job distributing the ball to Gasol for a jump shot and to Wesley Johnson, who threw down a reverse dunk. The Lakers show great team chemistry on offense but are letting the Nets get some easy points inside. The second unit continues to dominate the game for the Lakers, led by Nick Young attacking the basket and hitting a difficult three. The Nets on the offensive end turned the ball over three consecutive times. Lakers lead the Nets at the end of the quarter 34-18.
Second Quarter
The Lakers continued to make it rain with Jordan Farmar hitting three consecutive 3-pointers to start the quarter and the purple and gold went on an 18-0 run. Garnett finally gets a shot to go down for the Nets off an assist from Pierce. After a foul by Xavier Henry the Lakers found themselves out of fouls with 9:20 remaining in the half. After a strong start the Lakers struggled to get shots to go down. The Nets force the Lakers into getting consecutive turnovers and midway through the quarter have an 11-0 run. The 27-point lead the Lakers had is cut down to just 12 points with the Nets extending their run to 15-0. Meeks finally ends the Lakers’ drought off an assist by Blake, his seventh of the game. Nets have stepped up their defense on the Lakers in the quarter making it difficult just to get a shot off. At the end of the half the Lakers are ahead 54-40 led by Gasol’s 12 points and Blake’s 8 assists.
Third Quarter
Pau Gasol get the Lakers first points of the quarter with a nice jumper but the Nets respond with Johnson hitting a layup. Both teams are exchanging buckets with Blake and Hill knocking down jumpers for the Lakers, and Pierce and Garnett for the Nets. Nets slowly chipped away at the Lakers lead with Pierce hitting a three and Plumlee finishing an alley-oop. Blake gets his 10th assist of the night hitting Young for a dunk. Giving up offensive rebounds the Lakers lose control of the game with the Nets trailing by only eight. After a much needed three from Young the Lakers defense breaks down giving the Nets an easy layup. Young hits another big three keeping the Lakers ahead and the Nets turn the ball over on the next possession. Both teams run fast breaks on consecutive possessions and both could not take advantage getting their shots blocked. The Lakers stay on top at the end of the quarter leading by 9.
Fourth Quarter
The Nets open up the quarter with a three by Merza Teletovic and Hill missed a dunk on the offensive end for the Lakers. Shawne Williams was 0-5 in the game before finally hitting a three pointer. Farmar also connects on a three pointer for the Lakers and is 5-6 from the three. Lakers looked like they would begin to pull away with good ball movement but do not contest the Nets three point shot and turned the ball over as well. After the Nets go on a 7-0 run to bring the lead down to just two, Gasol gets a hook shot to go down to give him 21 points and put the Lakers back up by four. Despite a good run from the Nets, the Lakers hold on to win 99-94.
