LOS ANGELES — There’s definitely one mantle of consistency in an otherwise up-and-down Lakers season — teams below .500 have almost no chance of winning against the Lakers.

What You Need To Know

  • The Lakers improved to 11-1 against mediocre (or worse!) teams with a closer-than-expected 102-101 victory Friday against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena

  • Austin Reaves scored a career-high 38 points and LeBron James added a well rounded 29 points and eight assists as the Lakers won on a night when center Anthony Davis didn’t play because of a sore foot

  • The Lakers were heavy favorites but couldn’t quite shake the Nets, it’s hard when one of the NBA’s worst teams uncorks a ridiculous nine three-pointers in the fourth quarter
  • Thankfully for the Lakers, Reaves scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to help counteract the Nets’ scintillating shooting down the stretch

The Lakers improved to 11-1 against mediocre (or worse!) teams with a closer-than-expected 102-101 victory Friday against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena. Austin Reaves scored a career-high 38 points and LeBron James added a well rounded 29 points and eight assists as the Lakers won on a night when center Anthony Davis didn’t play because of a sore foot.

The Lakers were heavy favorites but couldn’t quite shake the Nets. It’s hard when one of the NBA’s worst teams uncorks a ridiculous nine three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t think we were sharp at all defensively in the second half. Too many lapses, too many non-contests,” Lakers Coach JJ Redick said.

Thankfully for the Lakers, Reaves was on their side. He scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to help counteract the Nets’ scintillating shooting down the stretch.

“Any time you play without A.D., you have lot to fill around that,” Reaves told Spectrum SportsNet. “Teammates were getting me open [looks]. Ball was going through the net.”

Reaves missed all four of his shots in the final two minutes but found James for an emphatic dunk that surely made the highlight shows that night.

The Nets (14-28) are definitely, indubitably below .500. They were so bad two days earlier that they experienced the worst loss in their 49-year history, a 126-67 crushing at the hands of the Clippers. Somehow, not one starter scored in double figures that night.

The Nets were certainly better Friday and had a chance to win after Reaves missed a runner in the lane with 20.2 seconds left.

But former Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell missed a three-point shot with 4.1 seconds left, James secured the rebound and the game was over.

Russell, traded by the Lakers to Brooklyn three weeks ago, had 19 points and eight assists. He’d been coming off the bench for the Nets and not making much of an impact, averaging 12.8 points and shooting only 41% in four games before Friday.

Earlier in the week, the Lakers actually lost to the sub-.500 San Antonio Spurs, ruining their perfect mark against the NBA’s less fortunate. There was no such hiccup Friday.

The Lakers (22-17) should continue to climb in the Western Conference standings because only two of their remaining seven games this month are against teams with winning records.

Davis is expected to return Sunday against the Clippers, as is Dorian Finney-Smith, the main player the Lakers acquired in the Russell trade. Finney-Smith didn’t play Friday after he and his fiancée announced the birth of their son two days earlier.

Perhaps Redick summed up the night the best. He was definitely pleased with two of his players but not the Lakers’ overall defensive effort.

“Both [Reaves] and LeBron just willed us to win. We weren’t very good tonight,” Redick said.