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The biggest takeaways from the Nets' impressive blowout win over the Lakers
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In one of the most cathartic results of the year, the Nets got a blowout win over the Lakers.
The Brooklyn Nets were heavy underdogs ahead of this matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. Darvin Ham’s team was fresh off wins against the OKC Thunder and Dallas Mavericks, but they couldn’t keep up with Brooklyn, as the Nets won 130-112.
Cameron Thomas was superb off the Nets bench, scoring a game-high 33 points. Nic Claxton also deserves the spotlight because of his 22 points and 14 rebounds against an elite big man like Anthony Davis who still had a 26-point and 11-rebound double-double.
“We’re really desperate for a win at this point and we just came out tonight, we were hitting our shots, we played good defense, we’re firing on all cylinders, but this is good for us and something for us to build off of,” Nic Claxton said in his post-game interview.
The Nets’ third-quarter performance was the best of the season
Brooklyn came into half-time down six points, 62-68. It could’ve been much worse, but Thomas kept them in the game with his 20 first-half points. Something clicked for the Nets in the third quarter because they overwhelmed LA with their energetic play.
Jacque Vaughn’s team outscored LA, 38 to 22 in the third period, getting a fantastic lead and never looking back.
“The Lakers came out a little flat in the second half, and we took advantage of that. They were complaining about calls, so we just did what we had to do. Knock down shots, got stops, a really good win for us,” Nic said about the Nets’ impressive second half.
Cam Thomas has a superstar performance
The Nets had a rough first quarter, only scoring 28 points. Half of those were from Cam coming off the bench and keeping the team afloat with his scoring.
Brooklyn’s bench was superb as Cam, Dennis Smith Jr., and Lonnie Walker IV had 59 points as a trio. The starters already played well, but the bench took the Nets over the edge to win the game.
Dinwiddie is the benchmark for Brooklyn
Whenever Spencer Dinwiddie plays well, Brooklyn looks like a much better team. Spencer was knocking down his shots, helping the offense to get more flow and opening opportunities for Cam and the rest of the squad to score.
There were reports of people within the NBA believing Dinwiddie is showing minimal effort, but this game was a sign that he was locked in. With two straight 19-point performances, Dinwiddie is out of his slump and ready to keep contributing.
