Here is what you need to know before the Lakers visit the Denver Nuggets.
1)
The Lakers rank fifth in the league with only 13.2 turnovers per game. The current Lakers are averaging just 0.1 more giveaways than the 2010-11 team, which holds the top mark since the 2001-02 squad had a franchise-best 12.7 per game.
2)
The Nuggets have won 14 of their last 21 games agains the Lakers. L.A. also fell in its last game against Denver on Feb. 10. The purple and gold lost 106-96, as they allowed a season-high 35 fourth-quarter points.
3)
The University of North Carolina’s archival, Duke, may have just won the NCAA championship, but UNC is well represented in Wednesday’s game. Ed Davis, Wayne Ellington (who is out for the season) and Denver’s Ty Lawson were all part of the Tar Heels team that won the title six years ago.
4) Davis has another connection with the Nuggets, as his father, Terry, played for them in 2000-01. The elder Davis spent 10 seasons in the NBA, but he finished his career in Denver, though he played only 19 games there.
5)
Denver has plenty of ties to this year’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class. Dikembe Mutombo played his first five years with the Nuggets, making three all-star teams and being named Defensive Player of the Year in 1995. Spencer Haywood played one season (1969-70) with the ABA’s Denver Rockets, averaging 30.0 points and 19.5 rebounds en route to being named MVP. Louie Dampier was a Nuggets assistant coach from 1998 to 2002 after making seven ABA all-star teams.
6)
The Nuggets recently parted ways with two-year coach Brian Shaw, who went 56-85 in his first head coaching gig. Shaw — who won three championships with the Lakers as a player and two as an assistant — was replaced by Melvin Hunt, a Lakers assistant himself in 2004-05.
7)
Lawson is the engine behind Denver’s offense. The 27-year-old is currently third in the league in assists (9.5) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.86). Lawson loves attacking the basket to set up teammates, as he ranks third in drives to the hoop (13.4) and second in team points on drives (13.4).
8)
Bosnia and Herzegovina native Jusuf Nurkic has justified the Nuggets’ trade for him on draft day. Nurkic leads all rookies in double-doubles (18), while ranking second in both rebounds (6.2) and blocks (1.2). However, his swats have become suddenly absent, as he has been held without one in five straight games.
9)
Despite taking the league’s third-most shots (86.7), the Nuggets have struggled to get the ball in the hoop, placing 18th in baskets (37.3). Cold shooting has cost Denver plenty of potential wins, as it is just 3-43 when being outshot and 4-29 when scoring fewer than 100 points.
10)
Denver’s offense has been unable to score in a variety of ways. The Nuggets rank last in field goal percentage on cuts to the basket (55.7) and catch-and-shoot attempts (33.9). They also shoot the second-worst percentage from 3-point range (32.1) and on post-ups (39.1).