The Los Angeles Lakers dropped to 10-6 in this 2024-25 season following a crushing 127-102 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday. The Lakers were up double digits late in the second quarter here but the Nuggets dominated in the third and handed them an embarrassing home loss.
Austin Reaves was the Lakers’ leading scorer on the night with 19 points to go with three rebounds, six assists, and a steal. LeBron James and Anthony Davis, meanwhile, failed to impress as the Lakers suffered a 13th loss in their last 14 games (regular season and playoffs) to the Nuggets. Their fans were understandably distraught after the game.
“The Denver Nuggets are our kryptonite,” one fan admitted the Nuggets are their kryptonite.
“No effort at all… This s*** is embarrassing. Just play basketball a little bit. We really suck rn. We need a f***ing trade,” one fan went off on the team.
“If the Giants can waive Daniel Jones the Lakers can definitely waive DLo,” one fan wants the Lakers to waive D’Angelo Russell.
“Sell the team, Jeanie,” one fan called for Jeanie Buss to sell the team.
“Horrible effort, horrible performance. Eventually, you have to get tired of getting punked by this team,” one fan wondered when the Lakers would get tired of being punked by the Nuggets.
You can certainly understand the Lakers fans’ frustrations. Their team just can’t find a way to beat the Nuggets. While the Lakers played well in some of those 13 previous meetings, that was not the case here. Many of their players failed to show up and that second half was a complete disaster.
James had 18 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals against the Nuggets here. He wasn’t able to stamp his authority and couldn’t stop the bleeding when the visitors started to pull away. As for Davis, he had just 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks, and was completely outplayed by Nikola Jokic.
Jokic had 34 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and a block on the night. He went 12-20 from the field, 3-7 from three, and 7-8 from the line, and the Lakers had no answer for him.
Jokic’s supporting cast hasn’t always stepped up this season, but they did in this one. Michael Porter Jr. had 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and a steal on the night and shot 10-15 from the field.
Russell Westbrook, meanwhile, had 14 points, seven rebounds, 11 assists, and one steal off the bench against this former team. Westbrook seemed to want to send a message to the Lakers here and sure did that in style.
What makes this win for the Nuggets even more impressive, is that this was the second night of a back-to-back. They had suffered a brutal 123-120 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday but managed to bounce back here and improve to 9-6 on the season. They now get a much-needed day off, after which they will take on the New York Knicks next at Ball Arena on Monday at 9 PM ET.
As for the Lakers, this was a second-straight home loss after starting the season 7-0 at Crypto.com Arena. They’ll next take on the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center in an NBA Cup game on Tuesday at 10 PM ET.
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