Here is a by-the-numbers look at the Lakers’ 119-101 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
3
The Lakers’ lead with 9:27 left in the third quarter. However, from there the Nuggets went on a 35-8 run to take a 93-69 lead. During this outburst, Denver shot 14-for-17 from the field led by 14 points from Kenneth Faried. On the other side, the Lakers went 3-for-13 and committed five turnovers, while forcing zero from the Nuggets.
Nuggets Shot Chart (35-8 Run)
“Offensively, we started to pound the ball instead of move the ball like we did in the early part of that third quarter,” head coach Byron Scott said. “I thought we got kind of selfish as far as trying to do it on our own. We can’t do that.”
40
Points scored by the Lakers’ bench. Ed Davis, Robert Sacre and Dwight Buycks came off the pine and combined to shoot 15-for-24 from the field. Davis added a game-high 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, while Sacre added nine boards of his own and Buycks scored a career-best 15 points.
52
Paint points scored by Denver. The Nuggets outscored the Lakers by 12 in the key by shooting 26-for-43. Faried lived up to his “Manimal” moniker in the paint, where he racked up a game-high 20 points.
54
Points scored by L.A. in the first half. Though they headed into the locker room trailing by four, the Lakers played successfully on the offensive end by shooting 19-for-40 (47.5 percent) from the field. Ryan Kelly led the way by scoring 13 of his 17 points over the first two quarters.
93
Points scored by Denver’s starters. The Nuggets’ starting five outscored L.A.’s by 32 points, as Faried and Danilo Gallinari took control of the game. Faried shot 10-for-14 to pour in a season-high 29 points, while also collecting 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Gallinari scored 27 points by shooting 9-for-19 and tying a Lakers opponent season-high with seven made 3-pointers.
“They went on that run (and) we really couldn’t bounce back from that,” Davis said. “They had some guys going. Faried had it going. Gallinari had it going. And Ty (Lawson) was running the show, so we really just couldn’t get back into it.”