LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jamal Murray scored 29 points, Michael Porter Jr added 27 and the Denver Nuggets snapped the Los Angeles Lakers’ three-game winning streak with a 114-106 victory yesterday.
Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for the defending NBA champion Nuggets, who opened a three-game road trip with their third straight win and eighth in 10 games.
Denver blew a 15-point lead in the second half, but never trailed and eventually finished with a 10-2 run in the building where the Nuggets beat LA twice to sweep the Western Conference finals last May.
“Give them credit, they had all the momentum and they were attacking us,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “What I saw in that stretch was poise on offence and executing. To outscore that team 10-2 in the last few minutes, that means you’re defending at a high level and you’re rebounding.”
Three hours before the game, the Lakers unveiled a 19-foot-tall bronze statue of Kobe Bryant outside their downtown arena. The Lakers played Denver in their Black Mamba alternate uniforms, and the evening was filled with Bryant tributes.
Anthony Davis scored 32 points and LeBron James had 25 for the Lakers, whose longest winning streak since the In-Season Tournament ended in their first game back from an encouraging six-game road trip. James added nine rebounds and seven assists, while Austin Reaves had 15 points and 10 assists.
“Definitely very frustrating,” said Jaxson Hayes, who had nine points and six rebounds for the Lakers. “A close loss like that, you make a good push there at the end, it’s always frustrating.… All of us know what time of year it is, and all of us know we need to lock in and get some more wins. I feel like there’s a sense of urgency from all of us.”
Several hours after the Lakers declined to make any moves at the trade deadline, they ran drastically short on guards. D’Angelo Russell sat out with left knee soreness, and Max Christie started in his place and scored seven points before spraining his right ankle shortly before halftime.
“This is our team, what we’re going to have, and once we get guys healthy, we can kind of get back into our groove,” Davis said.
