Tag: Nikola Jokic

LeBron James leads offense, Davis leads on defense to win at Nuggets

LeBron James and Anthony Davis made big plays down the stretch to hold off a Nuggets come back to get the Los Angeles Lakers another win.

The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t shoot all that well and they looked like they were in trouble at times, but their superstars made huge plays late to show once again that they are the class of the Western Conference through the first quarter of the season.

Anthony Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds while LeBron James had 24 points and nine assists, but the two stars made the key plays late after the Nuggets pushed them down the stretch.

James came through with a huge putback dunk on a miss by Davis to put the Lakers up 112-106 with just over a minute left in Tuesday’s win. The Lakers also made several key stops in the final few possessions, with Davis–who entered the game with flu-like symptoms–stoning the Nuggets three times at the rim in the final few minutes and also doing an excellent job on star center Nikola Jokic (13 points, 4-12, five turnovers, eight assists).

The Lakers started out hot and ended the first half with the same conviction, as the starters for the Lakers pushed them to a 60-49 lead at halftime of their showdown against the Nuggets. After hearing questions about their schedule in the first 20 games, the Lakers responded with one of their best halves of basketball on both ends so far this season.

But the Nuggets, being a very tough team in their own right, fought back to turn this early December showdown of the two best teams in the West into a regular season classic.

But the Lakers don’t have much time to rest as they will get on a plane shortly after the game as they head to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz for the second night of a back-to-back.

 

Anthony Davis is ‘under the weather’ for showdown in Denver

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis will be battling more than Nikola Jokic in Tuesday’s game against the Nuggets.

Perhaps Tuesday night will be remembered as The Anthony Davis Flu Game.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in Denver tonight to face the Nuggets,  starting a three-game road trip and a stretch of eight of their next nine games they will play on the road. But they will be fighting an uphill battle as several members of the team are dealing with “flu-like symptoms,” including star big man Anthony Davis, according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times.

Davis is no stranger to playing through maladies as he has fought through shoulder and rib injuries this season to play in all but one game so far this season. It’s also quite the time for Davis to come down ill in a showdown against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, who are currently No. 2 in the Western Conference behind Davis and the Lakers.

Still, illness or not, tonight’s showdown between the two best teams in the Western Conference so far shouldn’t be a letdown.

Nuggets coach Malone believes Lakers are ‘on a whole other level’

Nuggets coach Mike Malone and LeBron James go way back, but the praise of the Lakers sounds very genuine.

Tuesday night’s game between the two best teams in the Western Conference–the No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers and the No. 2 Denver Nuggets–is likely the biggest challenge the Lakers have faced through 20 games. However, the head coach of the Nuggets provided some motivation for his team as he believes they’re not on the same level as LeBron James and the Lakers.

Malone told reporters on Monday that the Lakers were on a “whole other level” than the Nuggets and anybody else in the Western Conference, according to Altitude’s Katy Winge.

Malone’s respect for the Lakers is also a personal one as he and LeBron James go back to the days when Malone was an assistant coach on the Cleveland Cavaliers during LeBron’s first run in Cleveland.

Still, it’s interesting to hear the coach separate his strong squad from the Lakers as a contender. But being that the Nuggets are a much younger team than this veteran Lakers group, the extra motivation from the coach may prove useful as they attempt to give the Lakers their fourth loss of the season.

In addition to tonight likely being the toughest game on the Lakers schedule to this point, it’s also the start of a stretch where they will play eight of their next nine games on the road.

LeBron James and Lakers roll into Denver to face No. 2 Nuggets

The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t looking past anyone as they head into a 3-game road trip that begins Tuesday.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis stated the goal of their team this season following Sunday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks that they’d not lose two games in-a-row this season. But more than the Lakers stated goal, Tuesday night will be characterized by a showdown between the two best teams in the Western Conference.

At 17-3, the Los Angeles Lakers visit the 13-4 Denver Nuggets who surprisingly have the league’s best defense. Much of the storylines about the Nuggets have been about what they can’t do, but through the first part of the season, they have shown they can absolutely disrupt things defensively, even against the most fluid of offenses.

Jokic also presents a fantastic cognitive challenge for the centers on the Lakers. While Davis is reticent to embrace the role of center, Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee can step in to provide a lot more physical resistance to Jokic. They’ve been great this season, especially Howard. Howard’s activity and athleticism may prove to be the biggest challenge for Jokic, but the Lakers center position must give him activity from the jump.

The Lakers definitely have a lot of different bigs to deal with Jokic but their guard and wing depth will once again be challenged Tuesday. Alex Caruso has played well but his skill may be spread thin against a deep Nuggets squad. Danny Green, Troy Daniels, Rajon Rondo, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can help him attempt to stabilize the backcourt, but this game just like any in the future, won’t be decided on paper.