The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets 120-108, despite a sluggish performance after a dominant first quarter by Luka Doncic. Doncic scored 21 points in the first quarter alone, setting the tone for the game. The Nuggets, missing key players Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray due to injuries, were unable to overcome Doncic's early surge.
Doncic finished with 31 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. His strong inside and outside shooting created opportunities for his teammates. While he cooled off significantly after the first quarter, his presence facilitated many wide-open three-point shots for the Lakers throughout the game.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent, and Dalton Knecht combined for 10 three-pointers on 17 attempts, contributing significantly to the Lakers' win. Despite a strong fourth-quarter push by the Nuggets, the Lakers maintained their lead, securing a 12-point victory.
The absence of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray due to injuries significantly hampered the Nuggets' ability to compete. Nuggets coach Michael Malone emphasized that their absence was due to injuries, not rest.
The Lakers' win improved their record to 43-25 and gave them a 2-2 split against the Nuggets for the season. This could prove beneficial in tiebreaker scenarios if both teams are close in standings near the end of the regular season, although the match didn't offer much overall insight into the relative strengths of the two teams heading into the final four weeks.
The streamers eventually would fall Wednesday night. The huge cheers for Bronny James coming off the bench in the fourth quarter were bound to happen. Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” would play.
It was fated by the time fans started filing into the building.
The latest chapter in the Lakers-Nuggets rivalry was going to look a lot different, with word that Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray weren’t going to play buzzing around before the game.
The script was flipped, the Lakers and their fans used to seeing Nuggets come off the injury report ahead of games against them. But without Denver’s best players, all it was going to take from the Lakers was a focused performance to get the job done.
By midway through the first quarter, Luka Doncic was so good that the bar for “focused performance” suddenly had been significantly lowered.
The Lakers handled the Denver Nuggets 120-108, Doncic’s monster first quarter enough to cover up for sluggish, sloppy play that might’ve cost them if Jokic and Murray were on the floor.
Doncic scored 21 points in the quarter, including nine in the first three minutes, to give the Lakers a lead that grew to 30 in the second half before they fully eased off the gas.
The Nuggets outscored the Lakers by 16 in the fourth quarter and still lost by 12, Doncic able to spend the final 12 minutes on the bench with the Lakers set to host Milwaukee on Thursday.
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt dunks the ball in front of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
It’ll be the Lakers’ sixth game in eight days. They’re 3-2 in the first five.
Doncic finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. And while he cooled off significantly after the first quarter, his presence again allowed the Lakers (43-25) to take and make wide-open threes all game.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent and Dalton Knecht combined to make 10 threes on 17 attempts.
While the Lakers earned a 2-2 split with Denver this season, a valuable asset in a tight West race in which they should finish ahead of the Nuggets in tiebreaker scenarios, it didn’t really offer much insight as to where either team stands heading into the final four weeks of the season.
Before the game, Nuggets coach Michael Malone forcefully said that Jokic and Murray weren’t “resting” as Denver missed its dynamic duo for the second straight game. Both are dealing with injuries, he said.
Without them, Denver didn’t have a chance, the Lakers riding a dominant quarter from Doncic during which he was able to get whatever he wanted near the basket or behind the three-point line.
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