The Denver Nuggets have been a nightmare for the Los Angeles Lakers, and their first meeting of the 2024-2025 NBA season is no different. The Lakers hosted the Nuggets on November 24, in front of their home crowd inside the Crypto Arena, however, the 2023 champs handed the purple and gold a crushing loss, 127-102.
Los Angeles Collapse in Third Quarter Resulted to Snowball Defeat
Before halftime, the Lakers were leading by six, 63-57, and looked like they were doing well against their biggest adversary. Unfortunately, things took a deep dive after collapsing offensively during the third quarter. Denver outscored Los Angeles in the third, 37-15, which eventually became the reason for the blowout win.
It’s always fun to see a matchup between Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis, two of the most talented big men in the league. However, Jokic, as always, outplayed AD during their battle on Saturday. The Joker was just a couple of assists shy of recording another triple-double after finishing with 34 points, 8 assists, and 13 rebounds. Michael Porter Jr. caught fire after putting up 24 points on 67% shooting on top of grabbing 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook, who’s been coming off the bench for the Nuggets, also recorded a 14-point, 11-assist double-double.
On the other hand, Davis, who has been second in the league in terms of scoring (31.3 PPG), recorded a season-low 14 points, but still led the Lakers in rebounding (10). LeBron James at 39 still did everything he could by contributing with 18 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. Austin Reaves led the team in scoring after going up for 19 points,
Nuggets Still Owning the Lakers
In the past two years, the Nuggets have been breaking the hearts of Lakers fans. Since the 2022-2023 campaign, Denver has won 13 of their last 16 matchups against Los Angeles (13-3). They’re 8-1 against LA in the playoffs and 5-2 during the regular season. In addition, Jokic and the Nuggets has been ending the Lakers’ playoff hopes in the last two seasons.
Lakers (10-6) will meet the Nuggets (9-6) again on February 23, 2025.
