NBA Roundup: James Harden stars as Brooklyn Nets beats undermanned Lakers team; Other NBA results

James Harden made it back-to-back wins for the Nets as he dropped 23 points and 11 assists in Thursday night’s 109-98 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kyrie Irving contributed 16 points and seven rebounds for the Nets, while Joe Harris scored 21 points as the Brooklyn Nets secured their fifth consecutive victory.

Reserve player Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot also scored 15 points while making five of eight 3-point attempts.

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Brooklyn and the Lakers had key contributors out through injury but it was the Lakers who lost the most. Kevin Durant missed his third straight contest due to a hamstring problem while Anthony Davis (calf strain) and Dennis Shroeder (health and safety protocols) missed out too.

LeBron James had 32 points and he also added eight rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers while Kyle Kuzma contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds. Montrezl Harrell also chipped in 10 points for Los Angeles, which has dropped two of its past three contests.

The Nets’ 3-point shooting played a vital role in the victory as they converted 18 of 39 (46.2 percent) from long distance compared to 8 of 30 (26.7 percent) for the Lakers. Overall, the Nets connected on 49.4 percent of their shots compared to 48.2 percent for the Lakers.

Brooklyn, which led 90-74 after three quarters, put the game out of reach midway through the fourth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g786_UYhQ_8

The Nets finished the first quarter on top after a 31-24 scoreline and further increased the margin in the second.

However, the Lakers closed the half on a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 64-53 at the break.

Overall, Los Angeles committed 16 turnovers to 14 for Brooklyn.

LeBron James reached 35,000 career points on the night as well and ended the night with 35,017 points, becoming just the third NBA player to hit the milestone, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928).

Thursday night’s NBA results

• Brooklyn Nets 109 – 98 Los Angeles Lakers
• Toronto Raptors 110 – 96 Milwaukee Bucks
• Miami Heat 118 – 110 Sacramento Kings