The Nets didn’t get any shots early.
LeBron James couldn’t afford to miss a single shot late in the game.
And when it was over, the Nets lost to the Lakers 116-104 in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,162 at Barclays Center. King James had arguably the best night of filming of his great career and was crowned when it was over.
A game that started with the Nets’ incompetence on offense (they missed their first 11 shots and fell behind 17-0) ended with James’ unparalleled talent on that front.
The Lakers icon poured in 17 of his game-high 40 points in the fourth quarter, scoring a career-high tying 9 of his 10 points from beyond the arc.
“No defense can stop it. We tried to hit him a few times, but when he fell wide on the first line and went all net, he just had a ‘flow’ moment. I did. That’s greatness,” Kevin Ollie said. “This is New York too, so you have to expect him to try to promote himself.”
James powered through and hit his final 3-pointer over the outstretched arm of Nick Claxton.
The Lakers won 114-98 with 2 minutes, 57 seconds remaining, to loud cheers from a capacity crowd (including at least one spectator wearing a goat costume in his honor). He checked out.
And on his way to the bench, James put on the king’s crown himself.
“Yeah, I think he hit a career-high nine threes. He’s like 40 years old, so that’s amazing. He’s one of the pioneers of this game,” Claxton said.
By scoring 40 points against OKC on Dec. 23, James joined Michael Jordan as the only players in history to score 40 points multiple times before turning 39 years old.
Sunday’s game against the Nets. Noah K. Murray writes for NY Post
James had a team-high 30 points and six assists, surpassing Cam Thomas, who was just one year old when the Lakers star was drafted.
He reminded everyone that the league’s great old man is still more than just an old man.
“He was 3-for-10, nine hits. That’s amazing,” Thomas said. “So when someone gets nine out of 10 from his threes, there’s not much you can do about it. So, you just have to honor him and thank him.”
As long as he keeps playing.
“It won’t be long, but I won’t be playing for another 21 years, that’s for sure,” James said. “I don’t know when that door will close, but I don’t have much time left.”
But he’s had enough.
The Nets (29-46) ended the winning streak at three with a slow start from James and themselves, cutting that disastrous number to just three.
Brooklyn fell behind 17-0 on Austin Reeves’ layup.
There were only 5 minutes and 39 seconds left in the first quarter when Claxton finally got them on the board with a layup.
“They just came out and asserted their will from the jump,” Claxton admitted.
The Lakers extended their lead to 31-7 on Gabe Vincent’s short bank shot with 1:49 left in the first, but they never regained the lead.
Mikal Bridges hit a 3 with 6:26 left in the second quarter to pull the Nets within 47-35.
But they quickly re-inflated the deficit.
The Nets took a 72-46 lead just 54 seconds into the second half on a layup by D’Angelo Russell (18 points, six assists, six boards).
The Nets fought back with a 17-5 run in the third and fourth quarters.
Trendon Watford (15 points, 8 boards) beat the buzzer with a layup to make it 90-79, then Thomas put his hand to his face and hit a step-back 3 18 seconds into the fourth to make it 90-82. I pulled it within.
But that’s about as close as the Nets can get.
James answered with a 3 of his own and the Lakers scored the next nine points (42-33).
He went 4-of-4 from deep in the final quarter alone, stopping all net rallies.
Brooklyn plays at Indiana on Monday, and the Hawks, sitting in the final play-in spot, play at Chicago.
“They threw the first punch. Honestly the first few punches. We started 18-0 and it was pretty tough from there,” Watford said. “[James] Hit, what, 3 to 9 out of 10?…This is, without a doubt, the best player to ever play this game. Oh yeah, he got hot. ”
