At T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Monday night, they defeated the Brooklyn Nets 129-126 to earn their first victory of the preseason.

Austin Reaves immediately scored the team’s opening basket with a pull-up three in his first practice game. After the Nets responded with a 7-0 run, they briefly led the Lakers and D’Angelo Russell in three-pointers to regain the lead.

Russell shot well from the field and made several three-pointers with assurance. Los Angeles had a seven-point lead after Rui Hachimura entered the game and scored five points straight. The Nets then concluded the quarter with a run of their own. By the end of the second quarter, the Lakers were trailing 35–34.

Early in the second quarter, Anthony Davis began to make an impression. He blocked a shot in the paint after working under the hoop for a reverse layup. They gained their first double-digit lead of the game by playing well on both sides of the court.

Taurean Prince placed the ball on the deck to demonstrate some of his scoring prowess. After that, Jaxson Hayes added a lay-in of his own to make the score 19–0. After Brooklyn embarked on an 8-0 run towards the conclusion of the first half, Los Angeles led 75–61 at the intermission because to their excellent long ball play.

Russell, Davis, and James had lost their games. Darvin Ham started Christian Wood, Gabe Vincent, and Hachimura in the third quarter. The Lakers allowed the Nets to gradually tie the game at 82-82 since they were missing some of their finest players.

Midway through the quarter, Reaves and Cam Thomas switched baskets. Still, L.A. regained the lead with some more effective long-range shooting. Wood made the decision to take matters into his own hands by aggressively phoning his own phone late in the third quarter. The purple and gold led 110–102 heading into the fourth quarter.

Even with their whole bench on the court, the Lakers were able to maintain their lead as their defense grew stronger. They performed well enough to maintain a 120–112 lead, but Ham lowered his bench to allow the children to participate.

Unfortunately, the rookies began to suffer right away on the field. Maxwell Lewis did, however, deliver a spectacular dunk that caused the Las Vegas audience to shout. The game was back and forth in the final minutes, but Los Angeles was able to hold on and prevail.