A first-round playoff matchup from a season ago will get a rewind Saturday when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Denver Nuggets.
The defending champions at the time, the Nuggets proved to be too much to handle and delivered a 4-1 series victory over the Lakers before they were eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Los Angeles will do its best to look forward since a glance backward also reveals a heartbreaking 119-118 home defeat to the Orlando Magic on Thursday. The Lakers solved the Magic’s tight defense but couldn’t outmaneuver the free-throw line by going 3 of 9 in the fourth quarter.
Lakers star Anthony Davis was 1 for 4 from the free-throw line in the final 27.1 seconds and LeBron James missed a foul shot with 39.1 seconds left. Austin Reaves missed a pair with 3:40 remaining.
Davis scored 39 points but his three misses in 13 attempts from the line loomed largest. James scored 31 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Afterward, Lakers head coach JJ Redick said he was headed for a “very dark place” before clarifying he meant his basement to watch a video of how it all got away.
“Every loss is frustrating,” Redick said. “There’s certain losses that you could point to a lack of — I don’t want to call it a lack of effort — but like a lack of will and competitiveness and physicality to start a game and then you’re having to fight that. Frankly, it swung on our missed free throws.”
The loss was the Lakers’ first at home in eight games and it ended a six-game winning streak. Now comes a matchup against the Nuggets, who they beat just once in seven games in the regular season and playoffs last campaign.
Denver will be on the second night of a back-to-back after a 123-120 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
There was some uplifting news with the return of Nikola Jokic, who missed the previous three games after the birth of his child. Jokic marked the moment with 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists for his fifth consecutive triple-double and seventh on the season.
“I just felt a lot of guys exhaled because Nikola was back and expected Superman to carry the day,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “That’s not fair. Do your own job. Nikola showed, once again, why he’s the best player in the world. Misses a week of basketball and goes out and gets a triple-double.”
The Nuggets have lost three of their past four games after falling three times in their first 10 games of the season. They enter Friday’s game after losing three of their past four on the road.
Against the Mavericks, Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. each scored 17 points for Denver, who fell to 1-1 in West: Group C play of the NBA Cup. The Nuggets’ loss allowed the Golden State Warriors to win the group.
Jokic has been a force again this season with averages of 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11.5 points. The three-time MVP also is shooting a spectacular 58.5 percent from 3-point range in 41 attempts.
Denver has won on the second night of a back-to-back on both occasions this season, most recently a 129-103 home victory over the Utah Jazz on Nov. 2.
