Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' matchup vs. the Denver Nuggets where the Lakers flip the script on the showboating antics of the Nuggets after the last two meetings, beating them 103-112 in their only meeting at Staples Center.
We might have a future NBA rivalry brewing. But, man it's so good to see that the Lakers got back at the Nuggets after two rough outings in Denver. And all of this centered around Jamal Murray. As mentioned in the two meetings in Denver, he dribbled around Lonzo Ball, Julius Randle took exception to it. Last Friday's meeting, Murray got Luke Walton and KCP heated. The Staples Center crowd gave Jamal Murray a handful and even showered him with a couple of "Murray sucks" chants. But, this was a very gritty win. The Lakers got off to that hot start in the first quarter. Brook Lopez looked good tonight. Then, it just fizzled out in the 2nd quarter and early part of the 3rd quarter when the Nuggets turned it on on both ends of the floor. But, Kuzma, I.T., and Randle stepped it up down the stretch and willed this team to a win. Lonzo and KCP didn't have it good on the offensive end, but contributed with a couple of clutch defensive plays down the stretch. That took a lot of grit on the Lakers' part to keep playing and find ways to win. No surprises there as they've been doing it all season long.
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Kyle Kuzma, 26 points, 13 rebounds, 10-20 shooting. Major props to Kuzma for shaking off a minor ankle sprain and playing through the 4th quarter where he did most of his damage to Denver. On the play where he landed awkwardly by the end of the 3rd, there was some contact and he should've gone to the free throw line. But, the refs seldom call fouls on the final seconds of quarters and it is what it is. The 3rd quarter, the Lakers couldn't get any scoring to go, but Kuzma took it upon himself to carry that load. He was on target from three. He was able to drive to the basket. His shots looked really good. He didn't rush it at all. Kuz did work on the boards, particularly on the defensive end. Boxing out guys like Jokic, Plumlee, Chandler, and Millsap are a handful.
Julius Randle, 26 points, 13 rebounds, 11-17 shooting. This was a pretty interesting game from Randle. The first quarter, he's a man among boys. The second and third quarter, he was a little too out of control with his footing. Then he's a man amongst boys again in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets defense deserves a lot of credit for frustrating Randle. Randle's biggest kryptonite is if the opposing team implements a double-team on him and knowing how Randle played the last two seasons, those frustrate him the most. But, even the Nuggets know it's hard to stop him if you give him any kind of contact. That's what Randle was able to do to make up for a frustrating stretch at the midway point of the game.
Isaiah Thomas, 23 points, 7-19 shooting. Someone give Nikola Jokic some ankle insurance. I.T.'s quickness and craftiness was just too much Jokic to handle as he doesn't have the lateral quickness to stay on him. I.T. embarrassed Jokic not once but twice in the fourth quarter. Shooting-wise, it was not great for I.T. But, he connected on four big threes to help spark the Lakers' offense outside of Kuzma's big performance. It was just another day in the office for the King of the Fourth in the 4th quarter.
4th quarter defense. The defense came up big in crunch time. The Lakers forced the Nuggets to make all kinds of bad decisions to seal this victory. They disrupted the offensive flow. KCP came up with a couple of key steals, so did Lonzo despite the duo not having a good scoring game. The defense isn't all that pretty, but as long as the Lakers put the clamps when the game's on the line, that's what matters.
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Turnovers. Lakers finished the game with 15 turnovers. Again, some of the turnovers, you gotta give credit to the Nuggets defensive adjustments. They double-teamed when needed, especially on Julius and they were very active with their hands to go for the steals. And then some of them, the Lakers were excessively passing the ball. Lonzo shoulders some of the blame for that. When he was driving, he had all kinds of space to drive to the cup, but sometimes pass-first guards get too passive and that was the case tonight, resulting in a couple of bad turnovers.
Three-ball happy. This was another major reason why the Nuggets completely sapped the Lakers out of some momentum after a hot first quarter start. The Lakers were living and dying by the three to go for the early kill. It's like they wanted to beat the Nuggets at their own game. They did have some good looks though. Travis Wear and Kuz had wide open shots, they just couldn't hit them. I was a little disappointed at Lopez camping out from beyond-the-arc again when he should've looked for his shot inside. He did start 3-3 from three point land though, then all of a sudden he thinks he's Klay Thompson. As mentioned, Lonzo Ball and KCP were way off behind the arc (Ball 1-7, KCP 1-4). Luckily, the Nuggets were no better even though they shoot the three-ball better than the Lakers have all season.
MVP
This MVP vote wasn't even that close. The Lakers' would be sitting ducks without this guy's big 2nd half. Kyle Kuzma carried the offense in the third quarter. He hit a couple of threes in the 4th quarter to help the Lakers pull away even further. Hopefully, that ankle is ok because they're going to need him to put up a game like this tomorrow against Golden State.
Conclusion
31 wins and counting. The Lakers did their jobs and punched the bully in the mouth in the Nuggets and Jamal Murray. This was a good statement win and this is another gritty win tact on to their season. This team just continues to improve and find ways to win game-by-game. Tonight, they did whoever's occupying the West's 8th seed a favor by beating Denver. Tomorrow night, they have a favor asked by Houston to take down the Warriors to further the gap of the #1 seed. So far this season, the Lakers took the Warriors to the limit on the first three meetings, two of them resulted in close OT losses. We can expect this game to be a little different considering that the Warriors are making a playoff push. But, they are missing Curry and a couple of key players. KD, Draymond, and Klay will likely pick up the slack for them again. This is not necessarily a barometer game, but if the Lakers still want to continue make that playoff push and avoid a regular season sweep against Golden State for the first time in a long time, they have to win tomorrow. I'll see you guys back here tomorrow.
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