The Lakers still haven’t figured out the Nuggets https://t.co/ikLxy7RLrR
— LakerTom (@LakerTom) November 24, 2024
Things were supposed to be different this time.
As the Los Angeles Lakers met at shootaround ahead of their Saturday matchup with the Denver Nuggets, coach JJ Redick acknowledged the recent history between the two teams, facing it head-on.
Entering the game, Denver had won 12 of the 13 previous matchups, including eliminating the Lakers in the 2023 and 2024 playoffs. The games often followed a familiar script, with the Lakers hanging around until the Nuggets eventually distanced themselves — often in crunch time — through a mix of shotmaking, execution, size and chemistry.
But Redick also emphasized to his group the Lakers could beat the Nuggets with the right tactical adjustments, attention to detail and competitive spirit. Players embraced the messaging and said they viewed the rematch as a signifier of how much they had improved since last season.
This was a new season. The past was the past. Or so they hoped.
As has been the case in the recent Denver-Los Angeles matchups, history repeated itself no matter the Lakers’ efforts. This time, the Nuggets blitzed the Lakers 37-15 in the third quarter, turning a six-point halftime deficit into a 16-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Denver extended its lead twice in the fourth quarter to 20-plus points and ultimately prevailed 127-102 — the Nuggets’ largest win over the Lakers during this stretch of dominance. Los Angeles dropped to 10-6 and 7-2 at home.
The Lakers have now lost 13 of 14 games to the Nuggets.
“Tonight, they beat the s— out of us,” said Austin Reaves, who led the team with 19 points and six assists.
The Nuggets did so despite missing starting power forward Aaron Gordon — who has been a giant thorn in the Lakers’ side with his offensive rebounding, finishing and defense against LeBron James — and being on the second night of a back-to-back after a heartbreaking loss to Dallas.
The Lakers, meanwhile, got back starting small forward Rui Hachimura, who had missed the last four games with a sprained ankle, adding size and scoring to the frontline. But it didn’t make much of a difference as the Lakers were overwhelmed by Nikola Jokić (34 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists) and Michael Porter Jr. (24 points and 11 rebounds), who shredded their defense and controlled the glass en route to the blowout victory.
“It was just bad overall,” Davis said of the Lakers’ performance.
This was a terribly disappointing performance by a Los Angeles Lakers team that essentially just got brutalized once again by their nemesis Denver Nuggets. Suddenly, the sky-has-no-limit Lakers are facing their second critical losing streak right when everybody thought they were taking off.
The loss was magnified by the coach’s brain-dead decision to start Rui Hachimura and put team’s elite wild card 3-point shooter back on the bench. F for the team. F for head coach JJ Redick. The solution has to be to start Dalton Knecht because he is the only shooter on this team that other teams will pay attention to Nobody else on this team has the spacing gravity he has.
I’m hoping JJ realizes his mistake and makes the right decision to put Dalton back in the starting lineup and run plays to get him twenty shots per game.
https://x.com/LakerTom/status/1860710484644921694
Lakers outscored by Nuggets 37-15 in third quarter.
That’s after a losing third quarter to Magic 29-21.
It’s not all about 3 point shooting Tom. It was about defense. Rui might have been on a minute restriction but he should have been in more. Porter had 3 baskets for 8 points in the 22 minutes Rui played. He had 16 in the 14 minutes Rui was off the court. Mostly against Dalton and Max. At 6’ 10 Neither are big enough to guard him. Our offense sucked because for some reason AD couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, along with sloppy play from LeBron.
we were down 3 in the 3rd quarter when Rui left the game. we were down 18 when he was brought back.