The Nets have the longest winning streak in the entire NBA, and D’Angelo Russell — in only his second game against the Lakers team that kicked him to the curb — led them there.
Russell looked like the leader his old team doubted he could be — and like the building block the Nets hoped he could become. He spurred Brooklyn to a 115-110 victory, a sixth straight win. It’s the longest streak in the league, and the Nets’ best since 2014-15.
The young guard had a team-high 22 points and a career-high-tying 13 assists, but insisted it wasn’t a grudge match.
“No. Honestly the crowd was electric. You could feel it. The Lakers were in town, so we wanted to give them a run,” said Russell, who hit the decisive 3 with 22.4 seconds left after the Nets had seen a 14-point edge cut to three.
“It’s a great feeling,” Russell added. “Personally, I’ve never been in that position at this level, winning six in a row. Definitely not satisfied. We want to give ourselves a chance to keep it going.”
Even if Russell wouldn’t admit that facing the Lakers gave him added incentive, teammates would.
“I hope so. Any time you get traded, you’d better have a little, especially them, LeBron coming over,” Jared Dudley said of Russell, whom the Nets opted not to extend before the season. “D’Lo not only had a little extra mustard for himself playing the Lakers, he’s in a contract year, in that pivotal point in his career.
“Are you going to take the next step? Are you trying to be an All-Star or just a guy who’s a starter? For him it’s how far of a jump can he make? Caris [LeVert] has done it, Spencer [Dinwiddie] worked his ass off, now it’s his turn. He came out and he definitely performed.”
Dinwiddie added 18 points and six assists, while Jarrett Allen blocked a dunk attempt from LeBron James — only the ninth time that’s happened in 1,850 tries, according to ESPN.
James had a game-high 36, but it wasn’t enough for the Lakers (18-13).
Meanwhile, the Nets have rebounded from an eight-game skid by becoming the hottest team in the league.
“That’s a little surprising,” admitted Joe Harris, who had 19 points, “especially when you go from losing eight in a row to having the longest one.”
Could the playoffs actually be back on their minds?
“That never went away from my mind. I thought we always had a chance,” Russell said. “We had adversity, things happened, but I feel like we handled it well.”
The Nets trailed 54-49 after James’ drive with 3:10 left in the half, but closed on a 13-3 run.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s and-one padded it to 79-65; and it was 100-87 after Dudley’s layup with 7:30 to play before they coughed up a 10-0 run.
Kyle Kuzma (22 points) hit James for a layup to cut the lead to three, and hit a 3 to pull the Lakers within 104-102 with 3:55 remaining before drives by Harris and then Dudley staunched the bleeding and made it 108-102.
Lonzo Ball (23 points) hit a 3 to cut it to 108-105. But Dudley’s jumper gave the Nets a 110-105 edge with 53 seconds left and Russell’s 3 to make it 113-107 was the dagger.
“He hurt us,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “He’s a talented player, and we know that.”
After James’ 3, Hollis-Jefferson hit a free throw and the Nets forced a James airball. That was rare, but not as rare as the tone-setting block on James.
“Growing up when I wanted to come to the league everybody was saying are you going to jump when LeBron’s coming at you? I was 13 years old and I told them yeah,” Allen said. “That was the opportunity right there and I jumped with him.”