Lakers at Nets
One of the teams is destined to leave the arena with its first victory
of the season when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Brooklyn Nets on
Friday. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers have struggled to four straight
losses and Brooklyn has fared even worse with five consecutive defeats.
Bryant is averaging 15.5 points through four games and both his shooting - 32.3 percent from the field and 20.6 from 3-point range - and mind-set are suffering. "The pressure is on everyone to try and fix things, so you have to communicate and teach and be better next time," Bryant told reporters after Tuesday's loss to Denver. "You can't get emotional about it. You've got to get technical about it." The Nets are off to an 0-5 start for the third time in franchise history and committed a season-worst 19 turnovers in Wednesday's 101-87 road loss to the Atlanta Hawks. "I don't think anybody's happy to be in this position to start the season," point guard Jarrett Jack said after the loss. "We've got to come out with a mentality of a desperate team trying to get a win on Friday."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (0-4): Rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell is averaging 8.5 points and 2.8 assists while being an underwhelming contributor considering he was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Lakers coach Byron Scott benched him in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's loss to Denver and opted to play Lou Williams down the stretch, and that annoyed Russell. “Basically, you had a decision to make - do you keep the guy out there who is keeping us in it or bring the young fella back in?” Scott told reporters. "I chose to go with Lou."
ABOUT THE NETS (0-5): Small forward Joe Johnson had just five points on 1-of-10 shooting in the loss to the Hawks and has been horrific so far this season. Johnson is averaging just 8.4 points on 28.3 percent shooting and his high outing of 14 points is more than three below his career average. Center Brook Lopez had season highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds against Atlanta and has been the lone standout while averaging 20 points and eight rebounds.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Brooklyn swept two games from the Lakers last season and has won the past three meetings.
2. The Nets' start is the franchise's worst since setting a dubious NBA record with 18 straight losses to begin the 2009-10 campaign.
3. Los Angeles G Jordan Clarkson matched his career best of 30 points against Denver and is averaging a team-best 18.3 points.