Make that eight straight victories. The Denver Nuggets may just own this matchup.
"We just wanted to take the life out of this arena," said Jamal Murray.
The Denver Nuggets won against the Los Angeles Lakers, 124-114, on Saturday night. This was Denver's eighth consecutive win over the Lakers, which includes the four-game sweep in the 2023 Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets didn't even play their best game in Los Angeles yet cruised to a double-digit win thanks to a 16-4 crunchtime performance. They're in a special mode right now, a perfect 6-0 since the All-Star break.
The win brought Denver one step closer to grabbing the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference standings. They're just half a game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves and tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder at the two-spot. Minnesota plays the No. 4 seed LA Clippers on Sunday afternoon, and Oklahoma City plays the 5-seed Phoenix Suns later. There's a chance the Nuggets are tied for the No. 1 seed by the end of the weekend.
Nikola Jokić had a dominant showing against the Lakers: 35 points on 16-of-25 shooting, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Michael Porter Jr. made history by becoming the first player to ever score 25 points, grab 10 rebounds, and make 5 three-pointers without missing any shots. Mike was a perfect 10-of-10 from the field.
"My teammates found me easy rhythm shots," Porter Jr. said. "It was just one of those nights."
However, it was Murray who was the story of the game. Murray rolled his ankle during Thursday's game against the Miami HEAT and did not return. He was listed as "questionable" on the injury report before Saturday's game and went through pregame warmups before deciding to give it a go against the Lakers. Though he started off slow, Murray went on to score 24 points on 11-of-23 shooting, dished 11 assists, and recorded 6 rebounds. It was a heroic performance by Murray, who hit some incredible shots down the stretch.
"We were coming out here thinking that there's no way he plays, but Jamal is one of the toughest cats I've ever been around," said head coach Michael Malone. "For Jamal to do what he did. He got off to a tough start. He stayed with it. He stayed with it."
Another huge storyline was Justin Holiday. The 10-year veteran had barely played this season heading into Saturday's game yet looked fantastic in his 31 minutes against the Lakers. He scored 13 points and made 3 huge three-pointers while playing excellent defense on the other end, resulting in a steal.
"The guy that I thought was just so key was Justin Holiday. He's gotta be talked about. Justin was amazing tonight," said Malone. "To have a veteran like that who he plays when guys are out, he doesn't play when guys are in. He is always ready. Consummate pro. Cannot be more happy and proud of Justin Holiday, and he's fully deserving of having the game he had because of who he is as a person, his work ethic, and we don't win that game without him."
The Nuggets shot 58.7 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from three-point land, and a ridiculous 65 percent from two-point range against the Lakers. They also outrebounded Los Angeles, 47-31, on their home floor.
Jokić led the charge for Denver with 16 first half points. He did most of his damage in the post. The Lakers elected to guard him with Rui Hachimura and had Anthony Davis lurk nearby as a helper, which was a strategy they used in the 2023 Conference Finals. However, the story of the first half was Denver's defense, which allowed Davis to run free as the roll-man for 13 points. Los Angeles finished the first half ahead, 66-58.
Denver switched up their utilization of Jokić and started to run more straight pick-and-roll between Nikola and Murray in the second half. Both teams went on runs before crunch time, and that's when the Nuggets took over. Denver outscored the Lakers, 19-6, in the final five minutes thanks to some incredible shotmaking from Murray and Jokić.