These games happen in the NBA. There was no LeBron James or Luka Doncic for the Lakers, but with the chance to shine, other guys stepped up — Austin Reaves scored 37, Dalton Knecht had 32 with five 3-pointers, and Los Angeles just played hard. Meanwhile, Denver played like they expected the Lakers to roll over.
Fortunately, with the game on the line, Nikola Jokic set a massive (moving?) screen, taking out two defenders, which opened the door for Jamal Murray to save the day for the Nuggets.
It was an ugly win for the Nuggets, but after rough losses to top teams (Boston, Oklahoma City, Minnesota), they needed the win. That doesn’t mean Michael Malone was happy about it, he walked into his postgame press conference, crumpled up the stat sheet and threw it away. The win moved the Nuggets back up to No. 2 in the West.
Jokic finished the game with 28 points, seven rebounds, and five assists — a great night for most players but a pedestrian one for him.
The Lakers went 0-4 on their road trip and will have to continue without LeBron James (groin strain) for another week or so, but now come home for four games, with a couple of winnable ones to start against Phoenix Sunday (nationally televised), followed by the very shorthanded Spurs. Then they get another shot at Denver.
