Lakers Lose; Struggles vs Nuggets Continue

The Nuggets continued their dominance over the Lakers Saturday night, defeating the Purple and Gold by a score of 127-102 inside Crypto.com Arena. The win makes Denver 13-1 in their last 14 games against LA.

Here are some of the most notable moments and major takeaways from the game.

Austin Reaves, Christian Braun Start Hot 

Austin Reaves came out aggressive and red-hot for the Lakers. He hit an early three that catapulted him to a double-digit first quarter. Reaves offensive output was matched by an unusual suspect, though, in Christian Braun.

With the Lakers defense focused heavily on Jokic and Murray to start, Braun found himself open and took advantage, scoring 10 first-quarter points.

Braun has gotten into double figures in every game for the Nuggets, which has kept Denver in games with one of their main weapons, Aaron Gordon, who is out with an injury.

LeBron Leads Second Quarter Charge 

With the reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic, on the bench to start the second quarter, LeBron James led the Lakers on a 17-2 run to take the lead. Jokic returned shortly after, and it was at this point, the game opened up, and both teams began to knock down shots.

The half ended with the Lakers finishing +10 in the second quarter and going into halftime with a 63-57 lead. Both teams shot over 50% from the field and 40% from three in the first half.

Michael Porter Jr Continues Success Against Lakers

With Jamal Murray in the locker room due to an injury in the third quarter, Michael Porter Jr. stepped up and scored 13 points in the span of just a few minutes.

This, combined with Nikola Jokic staying hot and the Lakers going ice cold from three, created a nightmare scenario that saw the game quickly get out of hand.

The third quarter ended up a major area of concern in the game once again for LA, as they scored just 15 points in the frame. They entered the final 12 minutes of play down 94-78.

JJ Redick on the second half: “Clearly the spirit to compete wasn’t there … Whatever it was, we were not haunted by ghosts of the past. Just not the right spirit.”

Lakers led by 6 at half but were outscored 70-39 in the second half.

— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) November 24, 2024

Denver Closes The Game Out

In typical Nuggets fashion, they made sure to close the door on the Lakers in the fourth quarter, with Russell Westbrook proving to be a spark off the bench as he flirted with a triple-double (14 PTS, 7 REB, 11 AST). The Lakers bench was emptied with 4 minutes to go and the Nuggets up 24.

Final Notes

The loss capped off a disappointing 72-hour span for the Lakers, who suffered back-to-back losses at home after starting 7-0. Jokic had yet another MVP-caliber performance against LA, putting up 34 points with 13 rebounds and eight assists.

The Lakers were led by Austin Reaves, who had 19 points. It was the first time this season that no Lakers reached at least 20 points.

The Lakers will now head on the road for a quick two-game trip against the Suns in the NBA Cup (Nov. 26) and the Spurs (Nov. 27)