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Nuggets at Lakers Preview

Associated Press

Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott has admitted that when he's talking to his players about defense, it feels like his instructions are falling on deaf ears.

That doesn't bode well for Scott's team in Sunday night's matchup against a Denver Nuggets club that is not only beginning to find its stride offensively but also has a history of torching the Lakers.

Los Angeles (3-10) opened a three-game trip with wins over Atlanta and Houston before completely unraveling on the defensive end against Dallas on Friday. The Lakers allowed the Mavericks to shoot an opponent season-high 62.2 percent and go 18 of 35 from 3-point range in a 140-106 loss.

"Maybe in that locker room, guys are satisfied with the last two wins and just took this one for granted and just started to look forward to going home," Scott said. "You can't do that if you want to be competitive in this league."

The Lakers, however, haven't been particularly competitive having already lost four times by at least 20 points. A defense that is allowing a league-worst 112.5 points is mostly to blame.

"Sometimes I do feel like I'm talking to myself when I'm talking about the defensive end of the floor and just trying to stress how important it is to our guys each and every night," Scott told the Lakers' official website. "Because there's nights, obviously Atlanta and Houston, when we do things that we talk about. And then there's nights like Dallas when we just don't."

Tightening up defensively is all the more imperative with Kobe Bryant still lacking his shooting touch.

Bryant missed his first eight shots Friday and was 6 of 22 for 17 points -- his worst shooting performance when taking at least 22 shots since New Year's Day 2012, when he shot 6 of 28 in a 99-90 loss in Denver. He is on pace for 1,224 missed shots, which would be the most since Elvin Hayes had 1,267 in 1970-71 -- the third-highest total in NBA history.

The rest of Lakers made 38 of 63 shots (60.3 percent) against Dallas.

Scott felt some of Bryant's poor shooting Friday could be attributed to the superstar exerting himself earlier in the day.

"He went to the gym that afternoon and made 300 shots," Scott said. "Sometimes that can hurt you more than help you."

While getting Bryant on track would make things easier, improving the defense is paramount considering Denver (5-7) is averaging 110.0 points during a three-game win streak.

The Nuggets also averaged 127.3 points in sweeping last season's three-game series -- the highest average allowed by a Lakers team in a single season since Charlotte averaged 135.5 points in a pair of games in 1993-94. Denver is averaging 123.2 in winning the last six meetings -- its longest win streak in the series.

The Nuggets (5-7) shot a season-high 52.4 percent -- including 11 of 24 from 3-point range -- in Friday's 117-97 win over New Orleans, their fourth victory in five games following a 1-6 start.

"We still have a long way to go," coach Brian Shaw said.

Wilson Chandler has totaled 39 points on 15-of-26 shooting in the last two games after averaging 10.4 points in the previous five. Arron Afflalo is averaging 17.4 points in Denver's wins compared to 10.3 in the losses.

Kenneth Faried and Ty Lawson led the way against the Lakers last season, averaging 23.3 and 23.0 points, respectively. Faried's mark was his highest average against any opponent in 2013-14.