The playoff hopes of Kobe Bryant and the slumping Lakers were dealt a devastating blow by the surging Nuggets, who ignored a handful of injuries to storm to a 117-96 victory.
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"Guys are trying out there. The teams we are playing have just been playing better than us," Bryant said. "When we were down by 20 points or so, we hung our heads a little bit. This is a new experience for a lot of guys, as far as playing at this level at a consistent basis. We just want to make sure that everyone continues to learn. We're a young team and we still have games to play."
Booed every time he touched the ball, Bryant could not turn things around, scoring just 18 points -- 10 below his average -- on 5-of-13 shooting. Interim coach Frank Hamblen sat him down with 4:24 to play.
"In the second half, I thought our guys just quit," Hamblen said. "From the first game of the season, it has shown how Denver has journeyed upward and we have journeyed downward. Because of the success of this franchise over the past five years, it really makes this tough. I'm not happy about how anyone played."
Los Angeles (32-36) fell 5½ games behind Denver (37-30) in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. With just 14 games remaining, the Lakers have to overtake both the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Nuggets, who are on a roll.
"Bad offensive, bad defensive, bad shots, giving up layups, that is a losing formula," Lakers guard Chucky Atkins said. "When you lose a bunch in a row and progressively get worse, it is tough. It seems when teams are missing a few guys or don't have their starters, we get blown out. We have no cohesiveness as a team."
That is not the case with Denver, which has won five in a row and 13 of 14 to improve to 20-5 under coach George Karl. During their current winning streak, the Nuggets have won by an average of nearly 20 points.
"No one in the world thought we would go 20-5," Karl said. "The team is playing with confidence and playing together. I didn't expect a double-digit win, but we did."
This one came without injured big men Kenyon Martin (bruised chest) and Marcus Camby (sprained ankle). The Nuggets also lost forward Francisco Elson to a sprained ankle in the second half but still cruised to victory as Earl Boykins scored 21 points and Andre Miller added 18.
"Our confidence is high," said Nuggets guard DerMarr Johnson, who scored 20 points for the second straight game. "In the third quarter, we have been running away from teams. We were a lot smaller tonight, but we just kept running and hitting our shots. I think everyone feels good, the starters and the bench."
The Nuggets held a 54-49 lead and widened the margin in the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Johnson capped a 15-2 surge that made it 76-61 with 3:56 to go.
The Lakers were within 90-77 with 10:01 to play on a jumper by Caron Butler, who scored 22 points. Boykins had two free throws and a jumper in an 8-0 spurt that built the lead to 19 points.