The Los Angeles Lakers (12 - 49) defeated the Brooklyn Nets (17 - 44) 107 - 101 at Staples Center on Tuesday. The matchup between two of the bottom three teams in the NBA featured an explosive performance from rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell, who scored a career high 39 points to lead the Lakers. Russell flashed his ability to score in volume, in addition to proving that he has the intangibles to see plays develop before they happen. In short, this was the type of game that Lakers fans have been waiting for. The rookie added six rebounds and three assists on 14 - of - 21 shooting, including eight buckets from behind the arc in 35 minutes. Two youthful counterparts, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson, aided Russell in the contest, as Randle contributed his 24th double - double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Clarkson added 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Roy Hibbert played strong in the paint and contained his matchup with Brook Lopez to a tolerable amount of points. The Los Angeles center totaled 14 points on an efficient 7 - of - 9 shooting. Clarkson’s running layup with 1:28 left in the fourth quarter was all that was needed for the Lakers to close out the game after extending the lead to three points, as the rest of the team finished strong from the charity stripe, including Brandon Bass, who made two big defensive stop with under one minute remaining to hold off the Nets. Brooklyn was outplayed in the first half, and once Russell caught fire, they had no answer in stopping him. All five Nets starters finished in double figures, lead by Lopez’s 23 points, but after fouling out the game, the Lakers had a crucial size advantage in the paint. Thaddeus Young totaled 19 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block, while Bojan Bogdanovich added 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. The Nets, as a whole, rounded out the box score from the starters, but were inefficient in shooting. Brooklyn shot 5 - of - 18 from behind the arc, granted it is not their strong suit, multiple missed open opportunities proved to be vital down the stretch. Both benches were quiet in the game, as neither team found a player registering in double figures or finding strength off the glass. The Denver Nuggets (23 - 37) will welcome both teams in each of their next scheduled games, as the Lakers will play the second game of a back - to - back on Wednesday, and the Nets will play on Friday.
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