Irving has 26, Nets beat Lakers 121-104 as James, Davis sit

NEW YORK(AP) — Kyrie Irving had 26 points, seven rebounds and six assiststo lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 121-104 victory Monday night overthe Los Angeles Lakers, who played without LeBron James and AnthonyDavis.

Irving hadscored 30 or more in a career-best six straight games but didn’thave to carry as heavy a load with some good play from Brooklyn’sbackup guards.

“It’snothing but joy in my eyes when I see them get rewarded for thehard work they’ve put in,” Irving said. “It makes my job a loteasier.”

Patty Millsand Cam Thomas added 21 points apiece for the Nets, who won theirsecond straight and are 4-6 since Kevin Durant sprained a ligamentin his right knee. They won just five times in 21 games last seasonwhen he sprained the other knee.

“I thinkfrom a big-picture standpoint we’ve just worked out how to navigatethe ship, I guess,” Mills said, “and it definitely does feel a lotdifferent than last year in that sense.”

Lakerscoach Darvin Ham said James was experiencing“reallysignificant soreness”in his left foot and would beevaluated Tuesday to see if he could play at the New York Knicksthat night.

James, whois 117 points shy of passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA’scareer scoring record, sat at the end of the Lakers bench.

It was aplanned day off for Davis so he didn’t play both ends of aback-to-back after returning last week from a 20-game absence dueto a right foot injury,

ThomasBryant had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, whileRussell Westbrook finished with 17 points, 10 assists and eightrebounds. The 2017 NBA MVP moved past Gary Payton into 10th placeon the career assists list, something he never would have imaginedwhen he was younger.

“In theNBA, I never dreamt of being in this position, nor getting to thepoint to where I’m next to some of the greats,” Westbrook said,“and I’m just truly grateful and thankful for an opportunity tokeep playing at the highest level and I don’t take any of it forgranted.”

The Lakerstrailed by 12 at halftime but opened the third quarter with a 14-0run for a 60-58 lead. Irving finally got the Nets going, but theLakers built a seven-point lead later in the period after somestrong work from Wenyen Gabriel, who scored nine straight LosAngeles points. Brooklyn recovered to close the period with a 10-0spurt to grab an 85-82 lead.

Mills andThomas made consecutive 3-pointers after the Lakers cut it to twoin the fourth, and Brooklyn went on to lead by 14 before puttingthis one away.

The Lakersmissed 11 of their first 14 shots and the Nets soon led 19-6.Brooklyn extended it to 19 points a few times in the second quarterbut didn’t close the half well, allowing the Lakers to pull within58-46.

The Lakerswere hoping to move on after an infuriating loss in Boston, whenreferees acknowledged they missed James being fouled on his driveto the basket at the end of regulation.

But it wasclear early on they hadn’t fully left their frustrations behind.Patrick Beverley, who got a technical foul in overtime Saturday,got another one in the first quarter Monday when he was called fora foul on Irving’s 3-point attempt. Referee Ben Taylor then walkedaway from Beverley to the other side of the court to avoid havingto call another one and issue an ejection.

TIP-INS

Lakers:With James and Davis out, Rui Hachimura made his first start forLos Angeles and scored 16 points. It was his third game with theLakers since being acquired from Washington. ... Troy Brown Jr. had11 points and 17 rebounds.

Nets:Brooklyn was also short-handed, as Ben Simmons missed his secondconsecutive game with left knee soreness. Nets coach Jacque Vaughnsaid the hope is Simmons can return Wednesday. ... Day’Ron Sharpegrabbed 14 rebounds and Nic Claxton had 12.