NBA

Los Angeles Lakers at Denver Nuggets

· National Basketball Association
34-21, 15-14 Away
Final
123 - 100

37-20, 20-9 Home

Lakers snap Nuggets' 9-game winning streak behind Luka Doncic's best game yet for LA

Luka's side-step 3 forces a Nuggets timeout

LeBron James added 25 points, Austin Reaves scored 23 and Rui Hachimura had 21 when he left holding his left side with 10 minutes remaining — the Lakers didn't miss him, going on a 12-2 run to stretch their lead to 19.

The Lakers never trailed in winning in Denver for the first time since April 10, 2022. They had lost 13 of their previous 14 against the Nuggets.

Doncic averaged 14.7 points in his first three games with the Lakers. He surpassed that less than 10 minutes in and had 19 points by halftime with the Lakers up 63-54.

Aaron Gordon scored 24 points and Jamal Murray 19 for Denver, which lost for the first time this month. Nikola Jokic posted his 26th triple-double of the season, but he was just 2 of 7 from the floor with six turnovers.

The Nuggets have never won 10 in a row during coach Michael Malone's decade in Denver.

Takeaways Lakers: Los Angeles returns home for a season-high six-game homestand that begins Tuesday night with a visit from the Dallas Mavericks as Doncic faces his former team for the first time since the Feb. 2 trade that sent him to LA for Anthony Davis.

Nuggets: The loss takes a little bit of shine off the Nuggets' recent roll. None of their nine consecutive wins came against teams currently in the top six of their conference.

Key moment After allowing the Nuggets to score the first eight points of the second half to pull to 63-62, the Lakers went on a 10-0 run sparked by James’ dunk and capped by Doncic’s 3.

Key stat Both teams were 16 of 41 from long range.

Up next The Lakers host the Mavericks Tuesday night and the Nuggets visit Indiana on Monday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 123 - 100
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 123 - 100
4th 23.1 Jalen Pickett bad pass (Jordan Goodwin steals) 123 - 100
4th 26.1 Dalton Knecht bad pass (Zeke Nnaji steals) 123 - 100
4th 46.1 Jalen Pickett makes 23-foot three point jumper (Julian Strawther assists) 123 - 100

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/lal.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originLAL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/den.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originDEN
43-86 FG 34-85
50 Field Goal % 40
16-41 3PT 16-41
39 Three Point % 39
21-25 FT 16-21
84 Free Throw % 76
39 Rebounds 45
9 Offensive Rebounds 12
30 Defensive Rebounds 33
27 Assists 28
15 Steals 6
9 Blocks 1
8 Turnovers 20
1 Team Turnovers 2
9 Total Turnovers 22
1 Technical Fouls 0
1 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 1
11 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 39
33 Fast Break Points 9
52 Points in Paint 30
20 Fouls 18
26 Largest Lead 0
Denver Nuggets Denver Nuggets Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Cameron Johnson, F Out Dec 25
Tamar Bates, G Out Dec 22
Christian Braun, G Out Dec 13
Aaron Gordon, F Out Dec 9
Los Angeles Lakers Los Angeles Lakers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jaxson Hayes, C Day-To-Day Dec 25
Austin Reaves, G Day-To-Day Dec 25
Gabe Vincent, G Out Dec 18

Game Information

Ball Arena

Location: Denver, CO
Attendance: 19,998 · Capacity:

2025-26 Pacific Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
LA Lakers 19 10 .655 - L3
Phoenix 16 13 .552 3 W1
Golden State 16 15 .516 4 W3
LA Clippers 8 21 .276 11 W2
Sacramento 7 23 .233 12.5 L1

2025-26 Northwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Oklahoma City 26 5 .839 - L2
Denver 22 8 .733 3.5 W1
Minnesota 20 11 .645 6 L1
Portland 12 18 .400 13.5 L2
Utah 10 19 .345 15 L4
Full Standings

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