DENVER — On a night when LeBron James made more NBA history, the Lakers were slow out of the starting gate.
For most of Thursday night, they looked disjointed, never leading, little semblance of the team that had won three straight or the group that gritted out a victory against New Orleans on Tuesday.
If these are the Lakers – who will take a redeye flight back to Los Angeles to complete a back-to-back set against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night – then a March schedule packed with playoff-caliber challenges, could be long and tiresome. The short-handed Denver Nuggets (39-24), playing without injured rotation players Peyton Watson, Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson, thoroughly handled the Lakers despite second-half surges and Luka Doncic’s 27-point performance to win, 120-113.
The loss snapped the Lakers’ three-game win streak on a night when James passed Lakers icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to set the NBA record for career field goals (regular season).
The Lakers (37-25) had a chance to take a late lead, cutting the Nuggets’ advantage to two points after a Rui Hachimura layup, and to one with 2:05 remaining after Austin Reaves split a pair of free throws.
But the Nuggets did what the Lakers couldn’t when it mattered most – they held strong and replenished. Nikola Jokic, who scored 28 points in a triple-double effort (adding 13 assists and 12 rebounds) made a pair of jumpers to push Denver’s lead to five points as Lakers guard Marcus Smart missed two 3-point attempts that would have tied the score in the final 90 seconds.
The Lakers – who are 14-19 against teams that are .500 or better – got close to taking a lead in the third quarter as well, using a 13-4 run to get within 82-78 thanks to 3-pointers from Hachimura and Smart (who shot a combined 7 for 11 from behind the arc as a part of the team’s 42% showing from deep) and a layup from Austin Reaves.
Hachimura (16 points) missed an open layup, in competition with just the rim. James airballed an open 3-point look. The pair of gaffes came during a three-possession stretch in the third quarter as the Nuggets again created separation. It was one of those nights for the Lakers.
Denver scored the first 11 points of the game, forcing Lakers coach JJ Redick to call an early timeout. The Nuggets’ lead reached 13 points in the first quarter – while they shot 50% from the field and 3-point range – behind All-Star guard Jamal Murray. Murray had nine points in the first and Denver built a 33-23 lead.
Despite the Lakers’ early struggles, James reached his milestone late in the first quarter. With 12.3 seconds remaining, the 41-year-old star worked on Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji in the paint. After six dribbles, forcing Nnaji backward into the paint, James turned and made one of his trademark fadeaway jumpers to pass Abdul-Jabbar.
With his 15,838 field goals, James surpassed a mark that had stood since Abdul-Jabbar’s retirement at the end of the 1988-89 season. More than three years ago, James broke Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA record for career points.
Deandre Ayton played 4½ minutes in the first quarter (negative-13 in the plus-minus), but exited for Jaxson Hayes immediately after. After Hayes – who scored 19 points on a team-best 8-of-10 shooting in 27 minutes on Thursday – started the second half, and Ayton did not return to the bench, the team announced that Ayton exited with a knee injury and would not return.
Jokic, playing against just one true Lakers center with Maxi Kleber sitting out with back soreness, helped feed Murray for 28 points as well, while guard Julian Strawther recorded 18 points.
More to come on this story.
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