Lakers hope to exploit absence of Nuggets’ big men
The Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets forged a rivalry through the playoffs over the past six seasons, so when they play in the regular season it carries more meaning.
That rivalry will be renewed Tuesday night when Los Angeles visits Denver for the first of three meetings in the regular season.
The Lakers have scuffled lately, losing five of six games before beating Toronto 110-93 on Sunday night. The slump dropped Los Angeles to sixth in the competitive Western Conference standings midway through the regular season.
"Well, it's not a bad record," Luka Doncic said Sunday night of the Lakers' 25-16 mark. "Obviously it could be better, but sometimes we play like this and we played against Atlanta (a 141-116 Los Angeles win on Jan. 13). It gives us a better chance to win. So just got to look at those two games and play like that."
Doncic, who leads the NBA in scoring (33.3 points a game) and tops his team in assists (8.6), was named an All-Star starter on Monday, while LeBron James, who is third on the Lakers in scoring (22.6 points), was not. It is the first time since his rookie season of 2003-04 he won't start the All-Star Game, a league-record streak of 21 years.
Los Angeles still doesn't have Austin Reaves (left calf strain), but Deandre Ayton is healthy and could be a factor against the Nuggets. Ayton logged 25 points and 13 rebounds in the win over the Raptors and made all 10 of his shots.
He has a chance for another big night against an undersized Denver team. The Nuggets have played smaller lineups with starting center Nikola Jokic (knee) and his backup, Jonas Valanciunas (calf), sidelined and have found success.
When power forward Aaron Gordon was held out Sunday night against Charlotte, the Nuggets' disadvantage grew. The Hornets dominated down low, outrebounding Denver 52-29 and compiling a 62-32 advantage in the paint on their way to an easy 110-87 win.
Jokic, who was also named a starter for the All-Star Game next month -- his sixth straight starting nod -- or Valanciunas would have helped Sunday night, but the Nuggets won't have either available against the Lakers.
"Jokic just dominates that team, especially on the boards, and Big Val (Jonas Valanciunas) would've done the same," Denver's Jamal Murray said after the loss to Charlotte. "We know what we're capable of, but it's tough to gang-rebound every single night."
Jokic leads Denver in scoring (29.6), rebounding (12.2) and assists (11.0). Murray has a chance to also make the All-Star squad as a reserve, which would be the first nod of his nine-year career.
Murray, who is averaging career highs in scoring (25.9 points a game), assists (7.3) and 3-point shooting (44.7%), has carried a heavier scoring load in Jokic's absence. He is averaging 29.9 points through seven games in January, having put up 33 or more points four times. However, he was limited to 16 points and two assists in the Sunday defeat.