While both the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers won their most recent games with impact players missing, only one is expected to have its stars back when the teams meet Wednesday in Los Angeles.
The Lakers still are expected to be without LeBron James (groin) and Rui Hachimura (knee), but the Nuggets are likely to have Nikola Jokic (ankle, elbow) and Jamal Murray (ankle) on the court.
Both Denver stars sat out on Monday against the Golden State Warriors, as did Christian Braun (foot), and the Nuggets still pulled off a 114-105 road victory over one of the NBA’s hottest teams.
While the debate rages on whether the Nuggets should have rested so much firepower for a nationally televised game, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone found a lot to like about the performance.
“You don’t have the three-time MVP, who’s (scoring) 30 points a night. You don’t have Jamal Murray, who’s 20 points a night. You don’t have (Braun), who’s the No. 1 transition player in the league,” Malone said. “Well, that means we’ve got to play hard, we’ve got to play desperate, we’ve got to play urgent, and we did that for 48 minutes. Our guys left it all on the court.”
The Nuggets (44-25) share second place in the Western Conference, but have just a one-game lead on the Lakers (42-25). Denver has wobbled of late — going 3-3 since March 9 — while earning a 131-126 home victory over the Lakers on Friday.
Jokic scored 28 points with seven rebounds in the victory over Los Angeles, while Aaron Gordon stepped up with 38 points in Monday’s victory over the Warriors.
The Lakers not only were without James and Hachimura at Denver last week, Luka Doncic sat out with calf and ankle soreness and big man Jaxson Hayes (knee) did not play.
Austin Reaves scored 30 points, Doncic had 21 and Hayes chipped in nine points with 11 rebounds as the Lakers earned a 125-109 home victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. Los Angeles was in control throughout against the short-handed Spurs and led by as many as 28.
“I think it was 48 (3-point attempts) and 34 were uncontested,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said. “… Our offensive decision-making and consistency where we had four really good offensive quarters was great.”
Doncic found ways to contribute, even as his shooting touch has yet to fully return after a long layoff from a Christmas Day calf injury. The Lakers’ trade-deadline addition was just 5-of-20 shooting — including 1 of 7 from 3-point range — but made an additional impact with 14 assists and nine rebounds to nearly have a triple-double.
“People start learning that at some point in the game, they’re going to double-team me,” Doncic said. “I accept that, and I like playing that. It saves my energy. We just get to play four on three. Guys are doing great out of that.”
Denver has a 2-1 lead over Los Angeles heading into the final game of the season series. Counting playoff games, the Nuggets have won 14 of 16 matchups with the Lakers going back to January 2023.
