The Lakers have now lost eight straight to the Nuggets. Â to spoil LeBron James’ historic night.
It was the same old story when the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets faced off on Saturday night. We saw yet another back-and-forth contest between the two sides, but the Nuggets once again executed to perfection down the stretch to come away with a 124-114 win. Lakers fans were very disappointed by the loss.
One said Darvin Ham got outcoached yet again.
A fan said the Lakers won’t be beating the Nuggets anytime soon.
One blasted Anthony Davis for his poor showing.
A fan claimed the Lakers choked.
One called out the team for not playing defense.
The Lakers’ defense certainly takes the blame for this loss. They allowed the Nuggets to shoot a whopping 58.7% from the field and 43.7% from beyond the arc. Nikola Jokic toyed with the Lakers all night, finishing with 35 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and a block.
His co-star Jamal Murray had 24 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists, and 1 steal, and the two executed brilliantly in the clutch moments to get this win. Michael Porter Jr., meanwhile, went 10-10 from the field to finish the night with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. The trio just proved a bit too much for the Lakers to handle.
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For the Lakers, LeBron James had a team-high 26 points to go with 4 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals. James reached 40,000 career points in the second quarter, but his historic night ended up being spoiled.
LeBron’s layup with just over four minutes remaining in the game had put the Lakers up 110-108, but the Nuggets then took over with a 9-0 run. Neither James nor Anthony Davis, who had 17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 blocks on the night, were able to execute on offense in that stretch, which doomed LA.
Davis was also unable to prevent the Nuggets from dominating on the glass either, as they had a 47-31 advantage when it came to rebounds. It is hard to win games when your defense can’t get stops and you get outrebounded to this extent. This defeat snapped the Lakers’ two-game win streak and dropped them to 33-29 on the season.
Think back to around this time last year, when all the talk was about how the Lakers would beat the Nuggets if they met in the playoffs. Well, they did meet in the Western Conference Finals, and Denver won 4-0. That made it five wins in a row for the Nuggets against the Lakers, as they had won their last regular-season meeting as well.
Fast forward to now, and Denver has completed a season series sweep of the Lakers in 2023–24, having won all three regular-season meetings. That made it eight straight wins, and at this point, it is safe to say the Nuggets have the Lakers’ number.
Should they meet again in the playoffs in 2024, it’s hard to see an outcome other than a Nuggets win. I just don’t see how the Lakers can beat them four times, and if they are to go all the way and win a championship this season, they would just have to hope that someone else knocks out the Nuggets.
That would be a tall task for anyone, as the defending champions have started to click into gear. They have won six straight games now to improve to 42-19 on the season and are within touching distance of the top-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.
