Many viewed Saturday night’s Nets-Lakers as a preview of the NBA Finals. But this bore no resemblance to championship basketball.
When the teams gave up, three superstars were already missing. A fourth retired when Kyrie Irving was sent off in the early third quarter. And when it was over, what was left of the reigning champion Lakers defeated what was left of the Nets, 126-101, in front of 1,773 disappointed fans at Barclays Center.
The league’s offices have been scrutinized this season and will be again after Irving and Lakers goalie Dennis Schroder were both sent off, for the first time in a combined 18 NBA campaign, over what appeared to be nothing more than typically on … the court that was made to each other.
Kevin Durant led the Nets with 22 points, and the expelled Irving scored 18 in 21 minutes. But that wasn’t the only reason the Nets (36-17) lost him. They did not need help from officials to do this. For the root cause of this defeat, you just have to look in the mirror.
The Nets played without MVP candidate James Harden, with a tense chip. But they faced a Lakers team that lacked not only superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but also Kyle Kuzma and Marc Gasol.
It didn’t matter: signer Andre Drummond was enough for the Lakers.
“It would be a great challenge for us [facing them healthy]”Nets coach Steve Nash said. “Obviously, Andre’s addition gives them size and a great center, but at the same time, I think the reason the Lakers were champions last year is that AD is the best center for small balls and LeBron is the best four small balls. , at least in the playoffs last year.
“I think it only offers them options and depth and another facet. If they want to grow up, 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 the front yard or the big one. ”
There were many complaints from CEOs in the small market when the Nets hit the redemption market to land the big men LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin. But Griffin finished with just two points, while Aldridge was attacked much of the night by Drummond (20 points, 11 rebounds).
Drummond was so physically dominant that Nash even tried to avoid using him, the young, liberated but thorny Nic Claxton. And while the opportunity seemed necessary for DeAndre Jordan, the 6-foot-11, 265-pounder was left out of the rotation and on the bench for the fifth game in a row.
The Nets allowed 50.5% shots – 19 for 34 from 3 points – and eight Lakers scored in double figures, including Schroder, who had 19 in just 20 minutes.
The Nets far outscored from the start, trailing 11-2 after a 9:33 Schroder triple in the first quarter.
Drummond isolated on Aldridge, attacking his way inside to block the Lakers’ advantage at 18-7. The Lakers hit seven of the top eight – 3 out of 4 deep – and the tone was set for the rest of the night by a team that hadn’t looked ahead.
“Honestly, my mentality is to try to win [Saturday’s]) game, really. It’s nothing more than that, “said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. “We don’t look on the road.”
At one point, Drummond fought four Nets for a rebound, Irving even threw himself to make it five to one. Regardless. Drummond continued to turn it around because the Nets were beaten on the boards at first.
With the Nets down 49-39 in the middle of the second quarter, they launched a 17-3 run to take the lead. A return of Durant knotted it at 52-all, with four minutes left in the half.
Durant passed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and sank over Drummond to give the Nets the lead. That made Durant’s mother, Wanda, stand up, applauding first. Aldridge finished the race and gave the Nets a 56-52 lead.
They couldn’t hold it.
With the Nets just 66-62 and 9:41 left in the third, Irving and Schroder began to falter with each other and both were sent off.
Leaving the floor, Irving tossed his fan shirt as he made his way to the locker room. He took with him any impetus the Nets had.
The Nets immediately gave up a 22-9 run and fell 88-71. It continued to grow from there to the fourth as they imploded the Nets.