LOS ANGELES — It wasn’t even a week ago that the Lakers were in a similar position to the one the Denver Nuggets faced on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena – down multiple star players in a pivotal matchup for Western Conference playoff seeding.
The Nuggets were nearly stunned by the Lakers last Friday in Denver, allowing the visitors to stay in the game until the final minute before a strong finish helped them survive.
The Lakers didn’t make the same mistake on Wednesday when they hosted the Nuggets, who were without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, pulling off a wire-to-wire 120-108 victory behind a strong start from Luka Doncic (31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists).
It was the 200th time Doncic has scored at least 30 points in a regular-season game, the eighth in 16 games since he joined the Lakers. He’s scored at least 30 in six of his past eight games.
Doncic led the Lakers (43-25) early, scoring 21 of his points in the first quarter – opening the period by assisting Jaxson Hayes (six points, rebounds) on a dunk before scoring multiple baskets inside the arc.
From there, Doncic did more damage from behind the arc, making three of his four 3-pointers during an 18-2 run midway through the first quarter on a night when the Lakers were in a collective rhythm from the perimeter.
The Lakers made 16 of their 38 3-point attempts (42.1%), including four from Gabe Vincent (12 points), three from Dorian Finney-Smith (14 points, four rebounds, four assists) and three from Dalton Knecht (12 points).
Austin Reaves (22 points, eight assists, five rebounds) also made a pair of shots from deep, and Jarred Vanderbilt (10 points) scored in double figures.
The Lakers led 46-29 going into the second quarter after Doncic’s hot start. That margin grew to 28 points (69-41) midway through the quarter, but the Nuggets (44-26) cut their deficit to 73-59 behind their offensive rebounding and transition offense.
The Lakers regained control in the third, taking a 105-77 lead into the fourth that grew to 30 near the start of the quarter as they moved into third place by percentage points in the tightly packed Western Conference standings.
Neither team played most of its main rotation players in the fourth, allowing Doncic to get extra rest amid a stretch of five home games in seven days.
The short-handed Nuggets were led by Aaron Gordon (26 points, 11 rebounds).
Wednesday was the Lakers’ ninth consecutive home win and 16th in their past 17 games at Crypto.com Arena. They have won three straight since returning from an 0-4 road trip.
The Lakers will host the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday to close out the back-to-back set.
More to come on this story.