Anthony Davis didn’t play in the second half after aggravating his right Achilles injury, and the Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 122-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets that snapped a seven-game winning streak.
Nikola Jokic got off to a good start shooting the basketball, hitting a few open jumpers to give the Nuggets an early 9-2 lead. The Lakers were able to respond by getting into the paint, particularly LeBron James and Anthony Davis who faced little resistance at the rim.
Dennis Schroder was able to burn the Nuggets with his speed, getting an easy layup in the lane and nailing his first 3 of the night in transition. However, Denver caught fire from beyond the arc and they evened the score at 33 apiece after the first.
James carried the offense to begin the second, getting out on the fastbreak for layups and later draining a jumper in isolation to keep Los Angeles slightly ahead. James andAnthony Davis didn’t play in the second half after aggravating his right Achilles injury, and the Los Angeles Lakers suffered a xx-xx loss to the Denver Nuggets to open a two-game road trip.
Davis were later able to score on consecutive pick and rolls, forcing Nuggets head coach Mike Malone to call a timeout.
Denver came out of the break and went on an immediate 15-2 run as Los Angeles’ offensive execution bogged down with James sitting on the bench. To make matters worse, Davis had to walk back to the locker room after appearing to aggravate his Achilles injury, and the Lakers went into the half down 73-61.
Los Angeles looked to take advantage of Jokic by switching him onto their smaller players and while they managed to score, Jamal Murray answered with a three to push the deficit back to 13. Talen Horton-Tucker managed to get it back down to 9, but Murray again responded to stop any potential run.
The Laker defense sputtered as they were unable to contain the the Nuggets from the perimeter, while James found little room to operate in a crowded paint area. A poor close to the third from L.A. put them behind 103-85.
Things did not get any better in the fourth for the Lakers as they continued to struggle to get anything going on either end. Los Angeles was unable to generate any sort of momentum and eventually walked away with the loss.
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