Lakers Face the Nuggets Without Jokic
The Los Angeles Lakers travel to Denver tonight to take on the 3-seeded Nuggets. The Lakers are on a 3-game road skid, but tonight they catch a break with Denver missing their best player, Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets will also be without some key role players, including Cameron Johnson, Christian Braun, and Jonas Valanciunas.
The Lakers are relatively healthy, missing only Austin Reaves and Adou Theiro. Both have been out of the lineup for roughly a month. LA must take advantage of this injured Denver team and gain much-needed ground in the loaded Western Conference.
The Lakers face the 3rd seed Nuggets without Jokic tonight 👀
Let’s start this 8-game road trip off on the right now 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ps9bHOj58V
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) January 20, 2026
Stopping Murray
One of the key strategies in this game will be limiting Jamal Murray and the Nuggets’ offense. Denver boasts the best scoring offense and offensive rating in the entire league.
Murray has stepped up the scoring in Jokic’s absence. He averages 25.9 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.4 rebounds on the season. The Nuggets have managed to go 7-4 following Jokic’s injury.
The Lakers need to throw multiple defenders at Murray to disrupt this high-powered offense.
Dominayton
Another key to this game is the Lakers’ center Deandre Ayton. Los Angeles is 12-0 in games where Ayton scores 15 points and adds 10 rebounds. With Denver missing two of their key big men in Jokic and Valanciunas, it’s up to Ayton to take advantage.
Ayton has been serviceable this season, but LA would still love to get more out of its biggest free-agent signing. For the team to be legitimate contenders in the West, they need Ayton to live up to his number one overall selection years ago.
If Ayton struggles, head coach JJ Redick may look to give young big man Drew Timme more minutes. Timme has played an impactful role in the Lakers’ last couple of games.
Final thoughts
The Lakers are 5-5 in their last ten games and are dangerously close to falling out of contention in the Western Conference. Tonight will be a huge game for the team to get back on track and steal a game from a team above them right now in the standings.
This is the first game of an eight-game road trip for LA, so starting it off with a victory will be crucial.
Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM PT at Ball Arena in Denver.
