The Denver Nuggets flew to Los Angeles late last night after a disappointing loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The quick turn around meant there was no time to cry over spilt milk and focus shifted to the hated Lakers. Los Angeles ended up being the team that looked like they were on the back to back though as Nikola Jokic along with Michael Porter Jr. led a big second half for Denver to turn the game into a laugher. The Nuggets dominance of the Lakers continues, they woodshed the team from L.A. 127-102.

There wasn’t a lot of defense early on but both teams did settle for some jumpers with neither gaining an advantage. The Lakers wanted to get out and run but the Nuggets kept them on a leash and hit enough shots to not give any advantages. Austin Reaves was doing most of the damage for the Lakers while Denver was leaning on Jokic, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun. The Nuggets got a little sloppy with the ball which got the Lakers a small lead with the quarter passing the halfway point. Russell Westbrook checked in and injected some energy into the game but turnovers continued to be a problem for Denver as a whole. They collected themselves down the stretch and got the lead back. After one quarter the Nuggets led 31-27.

The bench offense struggled starting the second quarter. They settled for a Westbrook three far too often. The Lakers went on a 12-2 run to take back the lead and Michael Malone called a timeout. The bench group started looking defeated while LeBron James was heating up and once L.A.’s lead got to eight Jokic was up off the bench and back into the game. That stopped the Lakers run and got the game back in control but the L.A. still hit enough shots to keep the lead. Denver kept within a couple baskets pretty much throughout the quarter and still found themselves trailing by seven with just under three minutes to go in the half. It continued to be back and forth in the final minutes. Jokic crashed the lane in transition for a dunk and then had a block on the other end right before the horn to send the Nuggets to the locker room trailing 63-57.

The Nuggets opened the second half on an 8-0 run with some nice play from Porter Jr. Denver’s defense for the most part was solid but they would make a mistake here and there that left a Laker wide open for three and that kept Los Angeles in the game. A few minutes into the half Murray got hit in the face and had to head back to the locker room. The Nuggets kept rallying in his absence behind Porter and Jokic, they stretched Denver’s lead to double digits. Reaves and Dalton Knecht kept the Lakers in it which was all L.A. had because James and Anthony Davis went cold. Jokic kept the pressure on in the back half of the quarter with the Lakers starting to let the game get away from them. Westbrook threw down a big putback dunk in the final minute to put the exclamation on a fantastic third quarter. After three Denver led 94-78.

Denver got good news to start the fourth with Murray returning to the court. He made the most of Malone’s adjustment to bring in DeAndre Jordan and immediately hit DJ with a lob for a thunderous oop dunk. The bench got out and ran early but started to bog down while LeBron started drawing fouls. The Lakers just couldn’t string together shots to take advantage of the non Nikola minutes though. Rui Hachimura hit a three to cut the lead to sixteen and that brought Nikola back in with seven minutes to go. As expected, Jokic immediately restored order while the lead went back to above twenty. Once the lead got up to twenty-seven with about three minutes left Malone emptied the bench. The Nuggets get a big win going away 127-102.

Congratulations to Michael Malone

Nov 8, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone listens to guard Jamal Murray (27) before the game against the Miami Heat at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Who’s. Your. Daddy. The Lebron/AD Lakers thirteenth loss in fourteen games to the Nuggets will forever be etched in history. It is almost poetic that Malone goes into the Nuggets record books as the all time franchise leader in coaching wins with a victory against the Lakers. No coach is perfect and Malone isn’t any different but the Nuggets truly have one of the best coaches in the league and the greatest coach in franchise history on the bench right now. It’s a special moment for Malone and the franchise and a special time to be a Nuggets fan.

Great night from Porter

MPJ had another great night on the court. In the first half L.A. took advantage in the second quarter and it looked like the Nuggets were headed for a repeat of the game from last night with Nikola getting little help. In the second half when the Nuggets went on their big run it was Porter who decided to come with Jokic and started scoring again. Mike has put up seventeen or more points in ten of his last eleven games now and that’s been a very welcome development. With Aaron Gordon on the shelf and Murray going through an early season slump Porter’s contributions have been invaluable and he showed it again tonight. He ends up with a 24/11 double-double.

Russ is breathing life into the bench

Oh the Lakers fans were all but too happy to boo their hearts out at Westbrook tonight but it was Russ getting the last laugh. There were some turnovers, a free throw that barely caught iron and some low percentage threes early that Lakers fans like to jeer about, but Russ continues to be a godsend for Denver’s bench. He quickly shifted to distributing when his shot wasn’t falling early and then shifted back to scoring later in the game when L.A. was starting to falter. Throw in some classic high energy steals, constantly pushing the ball up the floor and Westbrook was once again a big part of Denver’s victory tonight.