DENVER -- Jamal Murray pulled up from the 3-point line with a dagger disguised as a basketball in hand.
Even though there was still half a quarter to play, his fifth 3-pointer of the night meant curtains for the visiting Los Angeles Lakers. The Nuggets won, 122-109, for their 11th consecutive win at Ball Arena and 13th time in their last 16 games.
While LeBron James and Anthony Davis sat with injuries, it was far more important that the Nuggets comported themselves like Finals contenders than worry about an opponent’s unfortunate circumstance. Nikola Jokic authored his NBA-leading 11th triple-double of the season, finishing with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 16 assists. It took him only five shots to arrive at his scoring total.
Murray continued his upward trajectory, finishing with a season-high 34 points. The familiar aggression from Jokic’s counterpart was back. Bruce Brown was instrumental off the bench with 15 points and seven rebounds. He helped combat Russell Westbrook’s 25-point, seven-rebound, seven-assist night.
Denver outrebounded the Lakers 55-44 in the convincing win.
Now 27-13 overall, the Nuggets will host the Suns on Wednesday in a re-match of their Christmas Day special.
It took until the third quarter, but the intensity and the physicality finally spiked. Hard screens bled into harder fouls, and eventually, a couple technical fouls were called. As the Nuggets pled for whistles, Westbrook continued to play his relentless brand of basketball to keep the Lakers afloat. Despite a handful of timely blocks from both Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon, the Lakers’ second unit chipped away at Denver’s margin.
Once Brown checked in, he brought the same tenacious motor that Westbrook’s become known for. Brown buried two 3-pointers from the corner and then drained a running floater to beat the third-quarter buzzer. The Nuggets had taken the Lakers’ best punch and responded. It earned them a 94-79 lead going into the fourth.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone had a healthy fear of the Lakers heading into Monday night considering they were without their two franchise superstars.
“We talked about it,” Malone said. “Obviously, we have been playing really well as of late and it’s always about us first and foremost. You have to fight human nature when a team is out LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Lonnie Walker, Austin Reaves, Troy Brown, and all of those guys. You can’t relax.”
Malone asked veteran guard Ish Smith to address the team and speak to how a reserve approaches a game like Monday’s.
“I said ‘Ish, we played you guys when you were in Washington. You guys were down a lot of players. You tell me what is Dennis Schroder thinking tonight?’ He told the team exactly what he was thinking the night he kicked our butts in Washington,” Malone said.
To their credit, the Nuggets played with the requisite maturity in the first half on Monday night, seizing a 62-48 lead at the break. The Lakers managed just 42% shooting, and Schroder and Westbrook were a combined 3 for 17 in the first half. Furthermore, the Nuggets flooded LA’s passing lanes and forced nine first-half turnovers.
It was a reassuring approach for a team with a bad habit of playing down to lesser teams.
Murray paced the offense with 15 points and three 3-pointers. He drove the lane, found space in the mid-range and shot with confidence from the perimeter. Jokic dictated everything else, engineering 11 first-half assists.
The prettiest may have been Jokic’s selfless pass to Porter in the corner despite ample airspace for his own 3-pointer. It was Jokic in a nutshell, happier to share the wealth than seize it for himself.
