Lakers use strong 2nd half to surge past Nuggets

Luka Doncic had 38 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers used a strong second half to beat the Denver Nuggets 115-107 on Tuesday night.

LeBron James scored 19 points for Los Angeles, which rallied from 16 down. Marcus Smart added 15 points for the Lakers, who played the second half without Deandre Ayton after he sustained a left eye injury.

Jamal Murray had 28 points and 11 assists but had just two points in the second half when Denver was outscored 58-36. Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon had 18 points each, Spencer Jones added 16 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. contributed 10 points for the Nuggets.

Denver has lost two in a row after a four-game winning streak.

The Nuggets led by as many as 13 early, but Los Angeles got within two in the second and trailed 63-57 with 52 seconds left in the first half.

Murray took over, connecting with Gordon on an alley-oop, feeding Watson for a 3-pointer and then hitting a 56-foot heave at the buzzer to give Denver a 71-57 lead at intermission.

Denver extended the lead to 16 early in the third quarter but the Lakers scored 13 straight points to pull within 80-77 midway through the period. The Nuggets responded to lead 88-81, but James hit a 3-pointer and a layup to close within 88-86 heading into the fourth.

Los Angeles had two chances to take its first lead of the game but Gabe Vincent missed a free throw and James turned it over. It was tied again at 96 when Doncic drained a pair of free throws with 6:42 left to give the Lakers their first lead of the night.

Denver turned it over twice and Smart hit three free throws and a corner 3-pointer to lead 104-96. The Nuggets missed four times on their next possession during a stretch of 10 straight missed shots. Watson ended the drought with a 3-pointer.

Watson stole the inbounds pass and Gordon hit a 3-pointer to make it 108-102 with 2:15 left but James' dunk sealed the win.