The Lakers should have coasted to their third consecutive home win, easily overpowering the struggling Brooklyn Nets in front of a home crowd.
Instead, the Lakers assigned themselves a much bigger challenge and ultimately couldn’t overcome the Nets’ spirited second-half surge.
Brooklyn rolled to a 130-112 win Friday night at Crypto.com Arena as the Lakers shot a miserable 29% during the fourth quarter.
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The Lakers (21-22) opened with quick pace, sharp passing and hot shooting to mask a tepid defensive performance in the first half, but they opened the third quarter flat and could not pull out of the ensuing nosedive.