NBA regular season

Harden powers Nets to comfortable win over Lakers

Reuters
Harden powers Nets to comfortable win over Lakers

ONE-SIDED. Nets star James Harden drives to the basket past Lakers guard Wesley Matthews in second-half action of the titanic clash.

Photo by Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters

Minus Kevin Durant, the Nets make it look easy against a Lakers side also missing Anthony Davis in the battle of superteams

James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists and Joe Harris scored 21 points as the Brooklyn Nets beat the host Los Angeles Lakers, 109-98, on Thursday, February 18 (Friday, February 19, Philippine time).

Kyrie Irving contributed 16 points and 7 rebounds for the Nets, who captured their fifth consecutive victory. 

Reserve Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 15 points while making 5-of-8 three-point attempts. Harris was also 6-of-7 from three-point range.

Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant (hamstring) missed his third straight contest.

LeBron James had 32 points on 14-of-23 shooting while adding 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the Lakers, who played without Dennis Schroder (health and safety protocols). 

They already were without Anthony Davis, who is expected to be sidelined at least 2 to 3 weeks due to a calf strain.

Kyle Kuzma contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds and Montrezl Harrell chipped in 10 points for Los Angeles, which has dropped 2 of its past 3 contests.

The Nets’ three-point shooting played a big role in the outcome. Brooklyn converted 18-of-39 (46.2%) from long distance compared to 8-of-30 (26.7%) for the Lakers. 

Overall, the Nets connected on 49.4% of their shots compared to 48.2% for the Lakers.

Brooklyn, which led 90-74 after 3 quarters, put the game out of reach midway through the 4th.

The Nets held a 31-24 lead after one quarter and increased the margin in the 2nd. Irving followed his own miss with a basket for a 60-41 advantage with 3:08 left in the 2nd quarter.

However, the Lakers closed the half on a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 64-53 at the break.

Overall, Los Angeles committed 16 turnovers to 14 for Brooklyn.

A free throw by James late in the 2nd quarter allowed him to reach 35,000 career points. 

James, who ended the night with 35,017 points, became just the third NBA player to hit the milestone, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928). – Rappler.com

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