Nets Send Lakers To 8th Straight Loss, 107-97

NEW YORK (AP) — Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points, Sean Kilpatrick had 22 and the Brooklyn Nets sent the Los Angeles Lakers to their eighth straight loss with a 107-97 victory Wednesday night.

Brook Lopez added 20 points for the Nets, who played without Jeremy Lin again but avoided a third consecutive defeat. Trevor Booker grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds.

Lou Williams scored 16 points for the Lakers, who have fallen from a .500 team early in Luke Walton's first season as coach to one that is 10-18. They shot 38.5 percent from the field and were dismal as well from 3-point range (22 percent) and the free throw line (61.8).

Still, they had momentum going into the fourth quarter after Larry Nance Jr. soared over Lopez for an electrifying dunk late in the third, when Los Angeles outscored the Nets 33-23 to take a 76-75 edge into the fourth.

The Lakers still led by one before consecutive follow shots by Luis Scola and Lopez put Brooklyn on top for good, and Lopez had back-to-back baskets later during an 11-2 run that gave the Nets a 102-94 advantage with 4:47 to play.

Los Angeles kept misfiring and the Nets eventually increased the lead to double digits near the end.

Nick Young scored 14 points but shot 5 of 15 for the Lakers, who had won the last three meetings.

TIP-INS

Lakers: Young and D'Angelo Russell both played their third game since an injury absence. Walton said a minutes restriction remained in place for Russell, who missed 12 games with a sore left knee, but no longer for Young, who was sidelined six games with a strained right calf. ... The Lakers lost for just the fourth time in the last 20 meetings.

Nets: Bogdanovic had his sixth 20-point game of the season but first at home. ... The Lakers' 13 second-quarter points were the fewest the Nets have allowed in any period this season.

LIN'S LOSS

Lin had just returned from a 17-game absence with a strained left hamstring to play in the Nets' loss at Houston on Monday. Coach Kenny Atkinson said the point guard's back tightened up Wednesday morning and Lin was ruled out shortly before the game.

WALTON'S WORDS

Walton was fined $15,000 by the NBA for verbally abusing a game official and not leaving the court in a timely manner after an ejection for arguing what he thought should have been a foul in a loss to Sacramento. But apparently, he won't change his fighting ways when he deems it necessary. "Our guys aren't getting treated right, then I'm going to stand up for them," Walton said.

UP NEXT

Lakers: Visit Philadelphia on Friday.

Nets: Visit Orlando on Friday. The Magic have won the last four meetings.