The Los Angeles Lakers brought out the ‘Black Mamba’ jerseys on the day they unveiled the first of three Kobe Bryant statues outside the Crypto.com Arena. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to take down the Denver Nuggets as they fell to the defending champs despite the best efforts of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
After being down double-digits earlier, the Lakers would fight back and tie the game in the fourth quarter. But the Nuggets had an answer every time thanks to the excellent two-man game between Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray as well as a huge night from Michael Porter Jr.
LeBron felt it was that execution which made the difference in Denver pulling out the game down the stretch. “They made shots, they executed,” James said after the loss. “It wasn’t just a two-man game, it was more of a three-man game.
“But obviously the ball always ends up in Jokic and Murray’s hands and when we tied the game up, they made two big 3s, one from Michael Porter Jr. right across from our bench when we tied the game and then Jamal hit one as well behind the screen. They made more plays offensively than us and were able to win the game.”
The Nuggets’ offense is one of the best in the league as Jokic is basically unguardable and gets everyone involved with his amazing passing ability. Denver also ran some great plays down the stretch to get open looks on the Lakers defense, with LeBron again noting how good it is to have a duo like Jokic and Murray running the show.
“Very good teams, they have an ability to run plays late in the game that they haven’t ran all game,” James added. “And have certain packages that they can go to where they get a really good shot. But it makes it even more dynamic when you have a point guard and a center as great as Jamal and Jokic. It definitely helps to call plays when you have those two guys.”
Denver has proven to be a very difficult matchup for LeBron and the Lakers and they weren’t helped as Max Christie left the game and didn’t return either. James again stressed the health issues they have dealt with all year long.
“Just health. Max went down today, didn’t return to the game. Our whole year has been about health.”
Time is running out for the Lakers to make a run and regardless of who is injured, it will be on LeBron and Davis to lead the way and turn things around. The Nuggets showed the level the Lakers need to be at and they just aren’t quite there yet.
Lakers are ‘frontrunners’ to sign Spencer Dinwiddie on buyout market
While they didn’t make a trade at the deadline, the team does still have the potential to make additions on the buyout market and perhaps the best option available is point guard Spencer Dinwiddie.
The Lakers are reportedly the frontrunners to sign him after he was traded and bought out. Dinwiddie has plenty of experience and would bring a steady point guard option that the Lakers have been lacking since Gabe Vincent went out due to injury.
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