Los Angeles traveled to Denver looking for their first win this 2022-23 season, but they couldn’t find it in the Rockies after falling to the Nuggets 110-99.
Russell Westbrook was out tonight due to left hamstring soreness and Austin Reaves found his way into the starting five.
Los Angeles is still suffering from outside shooting issues. They went 8-for-30 from the arc. Simply put, they were outperformed by Denver in all areas of the game.
At the start of this contest, their defense was rated second in the NBA. Their defensive performance was strong in quarters one and two behind Anthony Davis who started the game with an and-1 layup and finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.
The Nuggets pulled away from Los Angeles from the start, but the Lakers clawed their way back, went on 13-3 run and tied the game 54-54 at halftime off an alley-oop from AD, assisted by LeBron James who secured 19 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds.
King James and his 19 points notched 1,100 consecutive games in double figures with tonight’s performance.
The Lakers defense deteriorated in the third quarter; Denver went up by almost 20. The Nuggets’ fastbreak was too much for the Lakers to withstand. Denver’s 35 fast-break points almost doubled Los Angeles’18.
The team looks to Minnesota on Friday to secure their first win.