;Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) plays against Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) during the fourth quarter of an NBA game at Crypto.com Arena I did it. Required credit: Kiyo Mio-Imagn Images
Nikola Jokic led the visiting Denver Nuggets with 34 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in a 127-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA on Saturday night.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 13 of his 24 points in the third quarter, helping the Nuggets defeat Los Angeles 37-15 and take a 94-78 advantage into the fourth quarter. Porter also grabbed 11 rebounds.
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For the Nuggets, who lost three of four games, Christian Braun had 16 points, Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 11 assists off the bench, and Jamal Murray also had 14 points.
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In Friday night’s 123-120 loss to the visiting Dallas Mavericks, Denver shot 61 percent from the floor (including 16-of-32 from 3-point range) and committed 18 turnovers. He scored 31 points.
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For the Lakers, Austin Reeves scored 19 points, LeBron James had 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists, and Anthony Davis had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but they lost for the second time in a row after winning six straight.
The Lakers led by as many as 10 points late in the first half, but Denver cut the deficit to six at intermission and scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 65-63 lead.
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Even after Murray went back to the locker room after being hit in the eye, the Nuggets continued to extend their lead to 84-71 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Porter and Peyton Watson.
Denver scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to take a 99-78 lead, and the Lakers never got closer than 16 points until their starters were released.
The Nuggets shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the first quarter and built a 31-27 lead.
After scoring the final four points of the first quarter, Denver scored the first three points of the second quarter to extend their lead to 34-27, but D’Angelo Russell’s 3-pointer with 9:50 left in the first half allowed Los Angeles was reversed. Falling back 37-36.
James dunked on a steal and sank a 3-pointer in transition to extend the lead to 46-38. He then hit a floor-length pass to Dalton Knecht for a dunk to complete those points. The Lakers built their largest lead of the game at 63-53 with 1:50 left in the first half.
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In the end, Los Angeles went into intermission with a 63-57 advantage. –Field level media
