Before the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Brooklyn Nets at Staples Center nearly two months ago, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said he was excited to watch his new point guard, Dennis Schroder, try to pester Nets star Kyrie Irving.
“They’re prolific on the offensive side of the ball, so it’s going to be a good challenge for our defense,” he said that day. “Looking forward to seeing the Dennis Schroder-Kyrie Irving matchup. I think that’s one that Dennis gives us a different dynamic this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing that matchup.”
Within the next hour, Vogel learned he would be without Schroder because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols, that potential matchup put on hold until Saturday night in Brooklyn.
Who knew getting it yanked away once again would help the Lakers pick up a lopsided 126-101 victory, a key win in their quest to avoid free falling in the Western Conference standings.
Schroder and Irving, dueling in an entertaining showdown between point guards, were both suddenly ejected early in the third quarter — each called for two technical fouls for what appeared to just be some heated trash-talking.
Leading 66-62 when the players were tossed, the Lakers quickly increased that lead thanks to hot shooting from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ben McLemore. After the ejection, the Lakers outscored Brooklyn 60-39.
For the Lakers, it was another all-time great streak. The organization that once won 33 consecutive games has now had a different player kicked out of three games in a row.
The look at Schroder against the Nets had to be promising — the team’s new point guard cutting up Brooklyn’s spotty defense in pick-and-roll pairings with Andre Drummond and the rest of the Lakers’ bigs.
Schroder scored 19 points before he got tossed (Irving had 18), hitting seven of 11 from the field. Drummond, in his second game back after injuring his toe, scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
With Drummond softening the Nets’ defense on the inside, the Lakers’ usually spotty three-point shooting surged. Eight different Lakers finished in double-figures scoring, with McLemore getting all 17 of his points in the second half.
Maybe there are lessons to be learned from the win — the Lakers’ first over a bonafide contender since the team lost Anthony Davis and LeBron James to injuries.
Or maybe the latest round of Nets-Lakers won’t offer much for any NBA Finals preparation considering how disjointed the rosters are.
The Lakers continued to play without Davis and James. Kyle Kuzma missed his second game in a row with a calf strain. Marc Gasol wasn’t available because a sore hamstring. And Wesley Matthews, who was in the starting lineup Thursday in Miami, was a late scratch with a sore Achilles tendon.
And the Nets, they weren’t whole either. The Lakers’ defense, which was fantastic once again, did have it a little easier with James Harden out and Kevin Durant still working his way back from a hamstring injury. Add in Irving being able to take the early train from the Barclays subway station and the Nets who closed the game were certainly diminished from a version the Lakers could potentially see down the road.
