In a game where their tallest player was Danilo Gallinari, the Nuggets will still leave L.A. with a win as they improve their record to 2-2 with a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, 120-109. With Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic both out with back injuries, J.J. Hickson got the nod to start at the center position, and did not disappoint with 17 points and 7 rebounds. The most impressive performance of the game for the Nuggets, however, came from Kenneth Faried as he scored 28 points and brought down 15 rebounds.

After getting down early in the first quarter, much of the game was spent with the lead going back-and-forth until plays by Emmanuel Mudiay and Faried in the third quarter gave the Nuggets the permanent lead. Despite being undersized through 48 minutes, ironically enough the Nuggets’ biggest defensive weakness tonight was guarding the three-point line. Too many times they fouled a three-point shooter, and Jordan Clarkson hit four threes on his way to scoring 30 points. The Nuggets did strugle to manage Julius Randle down low at times, but the matchup between the two power forwards was clearly won by the Manimal.

Overall, this was a game where struggles were evident but the Nuggets were able to hold off the Lakers as they gave them their fourth straight loss to open the season. A full recap with a more extensive summary and analysis will be up soon.

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box score via espn.com