NBA
Los Angeles Lakers Hand the Denver Nuggets First Loss Of Season
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 121-114 last night at the Staples Center. LeBron James finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, recording his first triple-double in a Lakers uniform. Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets best player, finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
Jokic also added three assists, but had a game high six turnovers. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray added 22 points and 10 rebounds, but Lakers guard Lonzo Ball played great defense on him all night. Ball picked up five steals to go with a great overall game performance.
First Half
The Nuggets opened the game with the Jamal Murray show. Murray went right at Ball offensively like he had something to prove. His aggressiveness took Denver out of their offensive element briefly, but they got back to Jokic facilitating quickly.
However, the Lakers quickly recovered on the shoulders of rim attacks and kick outs by James. Denver led 26-22 after one quarter. Neither team could grab much of a rhythm offensively.
James started the second quarter for the Lakers and helped them tie the game 29-29 . As Trey Lyles came off Denver’s bench, he started making better decisions as a scorer. He started driving to the rim and connected with his first three-pointer of the season. The rest of the Nuggets bench struggled on defense as the James show began. He was getting to the rim and kicking out passes to open shooters. As a result, the Lakers led the Nuggets 58-57 lead at halftime after a Kyle Kuzma three pointer to beat the buzzer.
Second Half
The Nuggets started off the third quarter hot, thanks to Murray. He began the quarter creating quality shots for him and and his teammates. However, James gained back his steam to match Denver’s offensive explosion. The Nuggets couldn’t match-up with him off-the-dribble or in transition. This led to easy scoring opportunities for the Lakers for the remainder of the quarter.
Ball did a great job being the general. He was contributing with his passing as well to help James get others involved. Jokic took over offensively late in the third to give the Nuggets some offense. His post game was extremely important for Denver. They had to rely on Jokic as their shots started to dwindle from long range.
The Nuggets’ bench came out strong in the fourth quarter. Murray led the way with a last minute dunk as the shot clock winded down. Monte Morris contributed for 20 points and seven assists off the bench to help the offense. Denver also continued to play solid defense with Lyles guarding James respectfully. Lance Stephenson hit back-to-back threes to keep the Lakers close.
The Lakers energy level went up once James came back late in the fourth quarter. James and Kuzma operated as the big men at the end of the game. With this change, the Lakers could run up and down the floor with ease. As a result of the change by the Lakers, Denver could not manage to stop them at the end. The Nuggets did everything to close the gap but with no prevail.
Player of the game: LeBron James
The Lakers next matchup will be against the Spurs in San Antonio on Saturday at 8:30pm ET.
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