Skip to main content

Nuggets move to fifth, Lakers play-in hopes wane further


The Lakers are 11th in the West at 31-47.


LOS ANGELES — Nikola Jokic had 38 points, 18 rebounds and six assists, and the Denver Nuggets moved into fifth place in the Western Conference with a 129-118 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday (Monday, Manila time).


Will Barton scored 25 points and Aaron Gordon added 24 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets, who capitalized on LeBron James' absence with a fourth-quarter surge to grab their fourth win in five games.


"Very satisfying, knowing the situation, four games to go (when) you've got people right behind you, pushing you," Denver coach Michael Malone said. "This was an important road win. We've been a great road team all regular season long. ... When it mattered most, we were able to get stops."


Denver moved a half-game ahead of Utah for the fifth spot in the playoff picture, getting further insurance against being forced into the play-in tournament.


"I think it's a really important win for us," Jokic said. "I'm just glad that we're winning. If we're playing bad and we're winning, that's the most important thing. I think it was really collective play that we did together, but hopefully we can keep it up to separate further and be even better."


Anthony Davis had 28 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the 11th-place Lakers, whose play-in hopes waned further with their sixth consecutive loss. Los Angeles has lost 28 of 38 since Jan. 7. Russell Westbrook added 27 points and Carmelo Anthony had 17.


The Lakers were competitive against a superior opponent, yet couldn't overcome the absence of the NBA's leading scorer, who sat for the fourth time in six games to rest his sprained left ankle. James dropped 38 points in the Lakers' loss to New Orleans on Friday night, but determined he couldn't recover from that exertion quickly enough to face the Nuggets in an early game.


"We don't worry about the math," coach Frank Vogel said. "We worry about the next game. Learn the lessons from this game, take them to the next game and hopefully get a win against Phoenix (on Tuesday)."


Davis was excellent in his second game back from a six-week injury absence, but this game was yet another missed opportunity for James, Davis and Westbrook to play together. Injury problems for James and Davis have limited the trio to 21 shared games this season.


"We didn't expect to only have 21 games together, but that's been all year," Davis said. "The times we were together, we looked good. … That being said, we still have enough (players) to play a basketball game. We will continue to fight this way, give ourselves a chance and see what happens."


Anthony Davis comes up with back-to-back 20-point games.


TIP-INS

Nuggets: Barton wasn't cleared to play until shortly before the game because he has a knee injury, Malone said. ... Malone reiterated his dislike for the play-in tournament before the game. He believes it should be used only when the ninth- and 10th-place teams are extremely close to the teams above them. ... DeMarcus Cousins had 14 points against his former team.


Lakers: The Lakers began Sunday one game behind San Antonio for 10th place in the West and the final spot in the play-in tournament. The Spurs also hold the tiebreaker over LA, meaning the Lakers face long odds. ... Anthony returned from a non-COVID illness. ... Davis had his first back-to-back 20-point games since Feb. 8.


SCORING RACE

The 37-year-old James has to play in at least two of the Lakers' final four games to qualify for the scoring title, which would be only the second of his career and first since 2008. He began Sunday ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid by a fraction of a point.


TAKING CARE OF TURNOVERS

Jokic committed turnovers on the Nuggets' first two possessions in their first game since they made 18 turnovers in an ugly home loss to Minnesota — after which the MVP quipped: "How good are we at turning the ball over? We're so good that it's crazy." Denver finished with only 12 turnovers against the Lakers, including just two in the fourth quarter.


UP NEXT

Nuggets: Host Spurs on Tuesday.


Lakers: At Suns on Tuesday.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dennis Rodman Once Said He, Michael Jordan, And Scottie Pippen Could Lock Up LeBron James: "LeBron Is So Easy To Play. He’s So F**king Easy To Play. He Doesn’t Have Any Moves."

  If there is something that will never end it is the comparison between players from different eras. Even in that niche, most comparisons revolve around the legendary players from the Chicago Bulls. Yes, we are talking about the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. A perfect example of that was seen by fans back in a 2019 interview featuring Dennis Rodman. The Worm was asked about his thoughts on guarding none other than LeBron James. Rodman replied: (starts at 6:06) "You know who could lock up LeBron? Me, Mike, and Scottie could. F*ck yeah. I would have locked his a** up. LeBron is so easy to play. He’s so f*cking easy to play, he don’t have any moves. Only move he has is streak down the line. He ain’t got no moves. Where he going?? Where is he going that’s quick? That’ll be sh*t, you can stop that. Scottie Pippen would have shut his f*cking a** down quick before I get to him. His game is too simple, he’s just big. I’m 260 and 6’8” and 6’9”, that’s the onl...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Deep: At long last, Nikola Jokic's Nuggets can envision getting to the top of the mountain

  Jamal Murray tore his ACL on April 12, 2021. Leading up to that night, he'd been playing at an All-NBA level for two months: In a 25-game stretch, Murray averaged 24.1 points on .509/.459/.935 shooting splits, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He was even more efficient than he was in the bubble playoffs, and his defense had improved, too. Murray only got to play with Aaron Gordon, the Denver Nuggets' big trade-deadline addition, for five games. They won them all except the one in which Murray got injured. In 110 minutes, their new starting five scored slightly more efficiently than any iteration of the Kevin Durant-era death lineup in Golden State and defended like a top-five team. Two Nikola Jokic MVP awards later, Murray is back. So is Michael Porter Jr., who signed a five-year extension about a year ago and needed back surgery nine games into the 2020-21 season. The Nuggets remember how easily everything slid into place with Gordon in the mix. Newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pop...
Post a Comment
Read more

Michael Jordan On LeBron James: "He's An Unbelievable Player, He's One Of The Best Players In The World... I'm A Fan Of His, I Love Watching Him Play..."

  Even before he made it to the NBA, LeBron James was already compared to the greatest player of all time, Michael Jordan. His Airness made a huge impact on the league, winning six championships in eight years, dominating rivals every night, and becoming one of the best two-way players in NBA history.  During his career, and even during his retirement, many players were compared to Jordan, but nobody could live up to the expectations. LeBron James was deemed 'The Chosen One' when he was a teenager, and comparisons between him and MJ never stopped coming.  They have mutual respect, and the biggest proof of that came during the 2022 All-Star Game, where MJ and Bron embraced each other in Cleveland. James would post a big pic of his first and most recent encounter with Jordan, paying respect to the man that inspired him.  Just like the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has always shown his admiration for James, Jordan has done the same before. Back in 2020, during a press co...
Post a Comment
Read more