Caris LeVert scores 22 points as Brooklyn Nets beat Los Angeles Lakers in Shenzhen
Saturday 12 October 2019 16:36, UK
The Brooklyn Nets got the better of LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for the second time in three days, recording to a 91-77 win in Shenzhen on Saturday.
The Nets' win capped a two-game preseason series in China that was overshadowed by the fallout from a tweet on the protests in the country about Hong Kong by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.
The league has played preseason games in China every year since 2007, with the exception of the lockout-shortened season in 2011. Now it's unclear if the fractured relationship can be mended for the series to continue next year.
Caris LeVert led the Nets with 22 points in 23 minutes, shooting 8-for-11 overall and 3-for-5 from three-point range with five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Taurean Prince was next with 14 points, connecting on 4-of-5 three-pointers. In the two games in China, Prince made 8-of-11 three-point attempts.
Lakers star Anthony Davis sprained his right thumb early on in the game. Davis, who started at center, appeared to suffer the injury swatting at the ball midway through the first quarter.
He initially stayed in the game and had his thumb taped during a break, but then headed to the locker room between the first and second quarters and had an ice pack taped to his right hand.
The Nets were without Kyrie Irving, who left Thursday's game in the opening minute after taking a blow to his recently injured face. Irving was listed out with a facial contusion.
But LeVert, who also left Thursday's game early, took over the show after being initially listed as questionable to play.
With an 11-point half-time lead, the Nets came out with an 8-0 run to start the second half. Back-to-back threes from Joe Harris and Prince put Brooklyn up 55-38.
The 10-0 run that followed from the Lakers would bring them as close as they got the rest of the game. The Nets responded with a 6-0 run as LeVert put Brooklyn up by 13.
The Nets took a 47-36 half-time lead behind a late surge from LeVert. With the Nets up 37-36, LeVert scored 10 straight points for an 11-point Brooklyn lead, starting with a pair of three-pointers. That gave LeVert 15 points at the half on 6-of-9 shooting.
The Nets and Lakers traded runs and stretches of stalled offense to open the game, with the Lakers scoring 11 straight points for an 11-7 lead. Brooklyn were up 20-19 at the end of the first quarter and began to find the mark from three-point range in the back half of the second quarter, with Dzanan Musa and Prince connecting from deep before LeVert's pair.
The Nets shot 38.9 per cent (7-for-18) from three-point range in the first half and had assists on 14 of their 19 field goals. Brooklyn limited the Lakers to 20 per cent (3-for-15) from three-point range and 31.8 per cent overall in the first half.
