The Lakers still haven’t figured out the Nuggets

LOS ANGELES — Things were going to be different this time.

When the Los Angeles Lakers met for shootaround ahead of their Saturday matchup with the Denver Nuggets, coach JJ Redick acknowledged the recent history between the two teams and confronted it.

Entering the game, Denver had won 12 of the 13 previous matchups, including eliminating the Lakers in the 2023 and 2024 playoffs. The games often followed a familiar script, with the Lakers hanging around until the Nuggets eventually pulled away — often in crunch time — through a mix of shotmaking, execution, size and chemistry.

But Redick also stressed to his group that the Lakers could beat the Nuggets with the right tactical adjustments, attention to detail and competitive spirit. The players embraced the message, saying they viewed the rematch as a sign of how much they had improved since last season.

This was a new season. The past was the past. Or so they hoped.

As has been the case in recent Denver-Los Angeles games, history repeated itself regardless of the Lakers’ efforts. This time, the Nuggets outscored the Lakers 37-15 in the third quarter, turning a six-point halftime deficit into a 16-point lead during the fourth quarter.

Denver extended its lead twice in the fourth quarter to 20-plus points and ultimately won 127-102 – the Nuggets’ biggest win over the Lakers during this dominance. Los Angeles fell to 10-6 and 7-2 at home.

The Lakers have now lost 13 out of 14 games to the Nuggets.

“Tonight they beat the s— out of us,” said Austin Reaves, who led the team with 19 points and six assists.

The Nuggets did it despite missing starting power forward Aaron Gordon — who has been a huge thorn in the side of the Lakers with his offensive rebounding, finishing and defense against LeBron James — and were on the second night of a back-to- back after a heartbreaking loss to Dallas.

The Lakers, meanwhile, came back and started small forward Rui Hachimura, who had missed the last four games with a sprained ankle, adding size and scoring to the front line. But it didn’t make much of a difference as the Lakers were overwhelmed by Nikola Jokić (34 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists) and Michael Porter Jr. (24 points and 11 rebounds), who smashed their defense and controlled the glass. road to blowout victory.

“It was just bad overall,” Davis said of the Lakers’ performance.

The Lakers were confident after the game that the one-sided nature of recent games didn’t creep into their minds as Denver went on their second-half run. But it was hard to believe that when more worrying trends from the previous lashes.

Jokić played Davis, who scored just 14 points on 6-of-19 shooting. D’Angelo Russell once again struggled (seven points on 2-of-9 shooting), adding to the list of his subpar performances against the Nuggets. Russell and James (18 points, six rebounds and seven assists) both left the arena without speaking to the media.

James had six turnovers and has 36 over his previous six games (6.0 per game). Denver dominated the glass (48-32) and points in the paint (64-40). The Nuggets also scored 31 points on 15 Lakers turnovers (and 26 fast-break points, though the Lakers outscored them by 27).

But more dishearteningly for the Lakers, their heads dropped and their spirits crumbled. The Nuggets grew in confidence and call back to all the big runs and shots they’ve made before (especially in Crypto.com Arena). The home crowd grew quiet and tense.

The Nuggets punched the Lakers in the mouth, and the Lakers immediately folded, accepting what has seemingly become their inevitable fate in these games.

“I have a pretty clear idea of ​​what happened in the third,” Redick said. “But whatever it was, it wasn’t because we were haunted by the ghosts of the past or anything like that. It was kind of obvious to me what happened there. Just not the right spirit.”

Davis in particular had an uncharacteristic off-night. He has been spectacular this season, playing at an MVP and first-team All-NBA level (30.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals in 55.6 /40.6/78.1 shot split). But he struggled against Jokić in a way he hadn’t since the 2023–24 season opener, leading to Davis’ worst game of the season.

Davis got too jump shot happy and settled for a contested look instead of attacking the rim with the same determination he often does. When he was out of rhythm, he tried to force things inside with running layups and floaters, and Denver’s size and length were able to slow him down.

Jokić will almost always be the best big man (and player) on the floor against the Lakers, but the Lakers need the distance between Davis and Jokić to be closer than it was on Saturday.

“I just missed shots. I think everybody looks great,” Davis said. “It’s a miss-or-make league. I’ll definitely make more than I’ll miss. You always wish you could make every shot. I’m confident in every shot I took. These are shots that I usually do. All of us, to be honest, we just missed every shot I took tonight.”

The loss led Redick to say he and his coaching staff need to take a deeper look at figuring out how to fix the Lakers defense, which ranks 27th in defensive rating as of Sunday.

The Lakers’ switch-heavy defense has too often allowed opponents to target mismatches. Denver was able to get smaller players switched onto Jokić and slower players turned on Murray, sparking additional help and rotations from the Lakers defense that eventually led to open 3s, cuts in space and driving lanes.

“Some of coaching is playing whack-a-mole,” Redick said. “Me and my staff will take some ownership of that as well. It’s not just players not executing the game plan. It’s all of us. We’re all on the same team. We all want the same result. We all want to be a good defensive team. So we have to figure that out together.”

The Lakers will also ultimately have to figure out the Nuggets if they want to advance through the postseason. If this game was truly a benchmark game for the Lakers, it’s clear that they still have a ways to go as the gap between these two teams is as wide as ever.

(Top photo of LeBron James: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)