The Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers had the unenviable task of following up the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics on ESPN’s Friday night slate. It was always going to be tough for the worldwide leader to follow up a fantastic game between the defending champions and this season’s best team, but a matchup between the West’s 10-seed and the East’s 11-seed didn’t offer much promise.
Then again, not many Nets games lately have. The 3-14 stretch over their last 17 games has somehow been more miserable than the record indicates.