It was all hands on deck for the Los Angeles Lakers tonight, as they faced the red-hot Denver Nuggets at the iconic Ball Arena. In a battle of two of the top six teams in the West, the result was lopsided in favor of the Lakers, who pulled off an impressive blowout win (123-100).
The Nuggets typically match up well against the Lakers as a bigger, veteran team with depth and star power. Tonight, however, the Lakers set the tone early with a 38-point first quarter. They held control for most of the game but the Nuggets kept it close until the very end. It wasn’t until the final frame that the game blew open, courtesy of a 27-13 quarter by the Lakers.
This was Luka Doncic’s best game as a Laker. In 31 minutes, he posted 32 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists on 45.5% shooting. LeBron James wasn’t too far behind with a stat line of 25 points, 9 rebounds, and five assists on 57.9% shooting. Shooting guard Austin Reaves contributed 23 points, four rebounds, and seven assists on 53.8% shooting.
For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic had another triple-double but he shot poorly, finishing with 12 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists on 28.6% shooting. In 35 minutes, Aaron Gordon had 24 points, five rebounds, and four assists on 4-7 shooting from three. Veteran point guard Jamal Murray dropped 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists on 46.2% shooting.
Coming off nine straight wins, the Nuggets were the hottest team in the NBA before facing the Lakers tonight and they were 20-8 on their home floor. In arguably the biggest test yet for the new-look Lakers, they passed with ease and Luka Doncic was finally able to have the kind of signature game fans had been waiting for.
A Breakthrough For Luka
The Lakers have gone out of their way to try and make Luka’s transition as smooth as possible, but growing pains are inevitable. In this case, just from the sheer shock of the trade, we know it could take some time before Luka played as he did earlier in the season when he was averaging 28.1 points per game for the Mavericks.
Tonight, thanks partly to bad defense and a team-wide effort from the Lakers, Doncic finally found his footing and it resulted in a blowout win. Against the Nuggets and his old rival, Nikola Jokic, Luka put up 32 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals on 45.5% shooting and 4-9 shooting from three.
Ultimately, Luka is still only a few games into his Lakers career but he’s been able to adapt quickly ever since the trade. Now that the initial shock has worn off, he’s able to play with no distractions and focus on delivering the best possible performance for his team.
Costly Mistakes For Nuggets
The Lakers nearly blew the game against the Trail Blazers on Thursday after committing 22 turnovers that gave them easy points. Against the Nuggets tonight, they made up for some of their past mistakes by forcing 20 turnovers on the Nuggets.
Despite a weak frontcourt rotation, the Lakers put enough pressure on the Nuggets to completely disrupt their offense, forcing turnovers which they turned into 39 points.
For a team that is usually unbeatable at home, the Nuggets were sorely lacking tonight and it might have something to do with how the Lakers played Jokic. He went 2-7 from the field tonight for 12 points, well below his season average. He had the most turnovers in the game by far with six in just over 35 minutes of play.
Four Lakers Starters With 20+ Points
For a team that changed stars midway through the season, the Lakers are playing like a well-oiled machine right now as winners of 7 in their last 10 games. One of the big factors against Denver was not just Luka’s brilliance but also balanced contributions from the other starters.
27 team assists show how much the Lakers were moving the ball tonight and we can see the chemistry building in front of our eyes. Besides Doncic and James, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves also delivered game-saving performances with 21 and 23 points, respectively.
The Lakers didn’t get much production from the bench but it was still more than enough to beat the Nuggets with four Lakers starters going off for 20+ points on over 45% shooting. When/if the Lakers get a big man this summer, it will be the last piece to completing their dream rotation, adding even more depth to a team with so many options already.
At 34-21, the Lakers are now 5th in the West and just two games back from the third-seeded Nuggets, who they just destroyed on their home court. With a few days off to rest and contemplate the win, coach JJ Redick will surely be doing everything he can to prepare for the matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, February 25, at 10:00 PM EST at the Crypto.com arena.
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