For a half, the Nuggets were gravy. But then the third quarter struck again.
For just one quarter, Denver relaxed, and that wasn’t good enough against LeBron James and the defending NBA champions. The No. 1 defense in the NBA played like it in the second half, cranking up the pressure on defense and securing a 114-93 win on Thursday night over the Nuggets. After scoring just 35 points in the second half, Denver fell to 12-9 on the season.
“It was all us,” said Jamal Murray, who finished with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting, five assists and five turnovers. “That’s why it’s so much worse than it is. When we hurt ourselves, we beat ourselves. We’re up at half. We just get lazy, we get lackadaisical, turn it over, we don’t get back.”
They’ll get a chance to correct those errors Saturday at Sacramento.
James was sensational, finishing with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Much like Nikola Jokic generally does to opponents, James picked apart Denver’s defense with his vision.
Jokic, Denver’s MVP candidate, had just 13 points on 6-of-16 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists. He wasn’t nearly as aggressive against the Lakers’ towering frontcourt.
JaMychal Green got his first start with the Nuggets, pouring in 14 points, including two 3-pointers and eight rebounds. His start had as much to do with his defense as it did the Lakers’ size.
Denver’s 12-point lead deteriorated quickly in the third quarter as James got into the lane and the Nuggets’ offense boiled down to excessive one-on-one dribbling. What had been an unselfish, flowing offense turned stagnant, and the Nuggets got blasted 37-17 in the quarter.
“Probably been at least five times this season where at the start of the third quarter we’re just flat-footed, we’re not aggressive, we don’t start running offense, the ball sticks, and ultimately in that third quarter, our turnovers fueled their break,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “We refused to get back in transition defense, which allowed them to score 66 in our paint and 25 in transition. … We were awful in that second half.”
Denver managed just two assists in the entire third quarter, with Jokic taking only three shots. In contrast, Murray forced the issue with seven attempts by himself. The Lakers closed the third on a 15-0 run that saw the Nuggets go scoreless for more than four minutes.
With that surge, the Lakers carried an 83-75 lead into the fourth.
Having coached James in Cleveland for five years and having faced him directly in the Western Conference Finals last postseason, Malone was acutely aware of the danger he presented, even at 36 years old.
“There’s certain teams and players, when you watch film preparing for them, you say to yourself, ‘Holy (crap), how are you going to stop this guy?’” Malone said before the game. “And LeBron has been one of those guys for a long time.”
Heading into Thursday night, James was averaging nearly 41 percent from the 3-point line on a career-high 6.8 attempts per game. In essence, James has mitigated one of the few weaknesses in his game, while authoring yet another MVP-caliber year.
“For years, people always said, ‘You gotta make LeBron beat you with a jump shot, take everything else away,’” Malone said. “… He can score in the post, he can score in transition, and now when that jump shot is flowing like it is, it makes it really hard. He’s one of the tougher covers in game-planning guys because of how unselfish and how great of a passer he is. And he’s seen everything possible that a defense can throw at him in his illustrious career.”
Their defense, ranked eighth in the NBA over the last 15 games (11-4), was further hampered without Gary Harris (adductor) or PJ Dozier (hamstring) on Thursday.
The Nuggets played as strong of an opening half as Malone could’ve hoped. Green’s presence in the starting lineup added size and physicality, but his team-high 12 first-half points were an added bonus. He paced the Nuggets’ unselfish attack, which took a 58-46 lead into the break.
If it wasn’t Green knocking down threes, then it was Jokic dancing around his matchup in the post or Murray backing down smaller defenders. Denver’s first half was a complete team effort, coupled with the defensive presence Malone had been harping on.
Aside from James, who had 13 points going into halftime, the Nuggets kept Davis in check and didn’t let the Lakers beat them from the perimeter. At halftime, Denver held a commanding 29-16 edge on the glass, led by eight rebounds from Paul Millsap.
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