Sunday’s NBA matchup between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers was expected to be a marquee one when the schedule was released. There is a ton of star power and the teams were both hoping to contend this season, but things have not gone according to plan thus far.
Brooklyn entered the game 6-7, having already parted ways with head coach Steve Nash. Point guard Kyrie Irving is also currently away from the team as he is suspended as part of the fallout from sharing anti-semitic material on his social media and not addressing it.
Los Angeles came into the game in even worse shape. They were 2-10 and playing without LeBron James, who injured his groin last week. That left a matchup between former Oklahoma City Thunder star teammates Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as the marquee and they lived up to the billing.
Whenever they were on the court together, they went at it. Durant scored 31 points, shooting 8-of-16 from the field and 13-of-14 from the foul line. He grabbed nine rebounds and handed out seven assists with two blocks to round out his stat line, but it wasn’t enough to get the Nets a win.
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This round went to Westbrook and the Lakers. Westbrook has thrived coming off the bench and was able to make an impact again despite struggles shooting the ball. He went 4-of-15 from the field but managed to score 14 points with 12 assists and six rebounds.
Durant was very complimentary of his former teammate post-game. He cracked some jokes about the two facing off and also praised the work that Westbrook has done in his new role with the second unit.
Durant was pretty much a one-man show for the Nets as led the team in points, rebounds, assists and blocks. The Lakers received a monster effort from Anthony Davis, who scored 37 points with 18 rebounds and two assists as he dominated the interior against an overmatched Nets frontcourt.
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Lonnie Walker IV also had a great shooting night, scoring 25 points on 9-of-15 from the field and an impressive 4-of-5 from 3-point range. 3-point shooting was where the Lakers held the edge, which has been a rare occurrence this season.
The purple and gold are the worst 3-point shooting team in the NBA, making only 30.7 percent of their attempts. But, against the Nets, they made 40.7 percent of their attempts while Brooklyn connected on only 25.9 percent of their 3-point shots.
