In a game between the two teams, lacking multiple starters, the Los Angeles Lakers still had Lukadoncic. That made a pretty big difference.
Behind the 31 points from the superstar, many believe Los Angeles shouldn’t have, and the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 120-108 on Wednesday to win their third straight set. They never chased in the game and led by 30 points.
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Doncic shot 21-10 from the field (4/9 from 3-point range), with nine rebounds, seven assists and six turnovers).
The Nuggets entered the game with almost hope after excluding Nicola Jokic (elbow/ankle) and Jamal Murray (ankle), but the Lakers were still playing without LeBron James (gro caliber).
Doncic picked up a slack in Los Angeles, dropping 21 points in the first quarter, bringing the Lakers up 46-29. There was also talk of garbage.
Denver made a bit of a game in the rally in the third quarter, but the lead didn’t fall below double digits until the last minute of the game. Crypto.com Arena audiences were cheering for Bronnie James’ 21st NBA appearance by the middle of the fourth quarter.
Aaron Gordon stepped up as the top option for the Nuggets without Jokic and Murray, posting 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook scored 12 points with four-fourths of shooting and nine assists.
Despite the players missing, the game still counted the same things in ranking, meaningful results. The 43-25 Lakers are better games than the 44-26 nuggets in the loss column, only two wins over second-placed Houston Rockets (45-25). The Oklahoma City Thunders will still be the first and easy to make, but the battle against other play-in teams in the West is becoming more competitive.
The Lakers have now won three straight games and could be considered a striped team since they welcomed Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks. They won eight straight after trading for him, losing four straight lines after losing James, and now have a three-game winning streak, but these wins surpass the non-playoff teams of the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs, and are now the Demanged Nuggets team.
They will need to take a stiffer test when they face the Milwaukee Bucks (7:30pm PT) on Thursday.
