Austin Reaves career night helps Lakers avoid upset against Nets

The Lakers leaned heavily on Austin Reaves and LeBron James to stave off the Nets for a win on Friday.

With Anthony Davis out, Austin Reaves had a career night scoring the ball as he and LeBron James carried the Lakers to a 102-101 win over the Nets.

Austin Reaves ended with 38 points on 13-23 shooting. LeBron James scored 29 points with seven rebounds and eight assists. Combined, the two went 25-40 from the field. The rest of the Lakers shot 13-42.

Jaxson Hayes stepped into the starting lineup, replacing Anthony Davis, and ended with six points and nine rebounds. Rui Hachimura pitched in with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Gabe Vincent had 10 points off the bench. Max Christie chipped in seven points but struggled, going 2-13 from the field.

The Lakers began the game with Austin lobbing to Jaxson for a dunk. Rui got in on the dunking with an emphatic one of his own. The Nets took the lead, but LA got some offense going and Max shot a 3-pointer to tie the game at the first timeout.

Both teams went on a three-minute scoring drought until Austin's layup was goaltended by Ben Simmons. After just two more baskets, there was another timeout because neither team was playing clean basketball.

Brooklyn eventually jumped ahead again, but the Lakers closed to within two. LeBron then drained a 3-pointer to put the purple and gold up by one at the end of the first.

Brooklyn’s Tyrese Martin opened the second with a 3-pointer. It turned into a one-man show for LA with LeBron having to put the Lakers on his back. Former Laker D’Angelo Russell knocked down a three after not shooting well in the first quarter.

Gabe threw a lob to Jaxson for the first of back-to-back dunks before Austin drained a three to give the Lakers a slight cushion with their lead. Reaves put LA up by six after he also converted on a layup. Los Angeles shot 53% from the field, while Brooklyn shot 43.8%.

The offense was clicking for Austin, who went on a mini-scoring run of four, putting the Lakers up by double digits. After Nick Claxton's free throw, LA missed about a million shot attempts, leading to a dunk by Claxton. Two free throws by Noah Clowney brought the Nets even closer.

At halftime, the Lakers were up by six.

The Brooklyn Nets came out firing in the third with Keon Johson making the first two shots. After Austin was fouled from behind the arc, making all three free throws, the Nets scored two more times making it a one-point game at the first timeout. LA was on a five-minute scoring drought until a shot by LeBron counted after a goaltend.

After seeing their 11-point lead diminish in the second quarter, the Lakers were struggling heavily with their offense. They were in a dogfight with a team they should be beating by a wide margin.

Both teams were trading baskets, tying the game, and taking the lead back from the other. Gabe converted on a layup and 3-pointer to put LA up by five. Once again, the Lakers couldn’t keep a good lead and let the Nets get close.

LA withstood Brooklyn’s efforts for a four-point lead at the end of the third.

After a fadeaway by LeBron to start the final frame, the Nets drained two 3-pointers to make it a tie game, forcing a timeout by the Lakers. LeBron and Austin were putting Los Angeles on their shoulders offensively.

As a team, LA struggled to put together some defense, which was not allowing them to extend a lead.

Brooklyn was shooting 43% from behind the arc, making six this quarter. LA jumped ahead by five after shots by Austin and Gabe. Austin turned this quarter into a scoring clinic.

An excellent lob by Austin to LeBron for a dunk had the crowd rocking, but the Nets were still in it, making it a two-possession game. Clowney made it a one-point game with a 3-pointer.

Reaves’ 3-pointer on the ensuing possession came up empty, giving the Nets a chance to take the lead. With time winding down, D’Lo had the ball, ready for a dagger against his former team, but he missed. The Lakers escaped with the win.

Key Takeaways:

Perhaps it was because AD was out, but we should not have been in a dogfight with this Brooklyn Nets team.

Speaking of AD being out, it ruined the Lakers' ability to rebound. His rebounding was missed, alongside his defense and scoring.

The Lakers’ next game will be Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers at 6:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.