Lakers guard Dalton Knecht waits for play to resume during the first half of their game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, right, drives past Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers center Christian Koloko, left, goes up for a basket past Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers head coach JJ Redick argues for a call in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, left, loses control of the ball as Lakers guard Austin Reaves defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, left, drives past Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers assistant coach Bob Beyer, front left, confers with guard Bronny James in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) drives past Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., right, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., left, drives to the basket as Lakers center Alex Len, right, and guard Austin Reaves, center, defend in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Luka Doncic heads back to the bench in the first half of a game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, greets Lakers guard Luka Doncic, right, in the first half of a game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, second from right, pushes Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, out of the way in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., right, looks to pass the ball as Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers center Christian Koloko, right, blocks a shot by Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Shake Milton pulls in a loose ball in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook, right, drives past Lakers guard Bronny James in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves collects a loose ball in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, right, goes up for a shot over Lakers forward Markieff Morris in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt, left, fouls Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, left, drives past Lakers guard Jordan Goodwin in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves pulls down a rebound as Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, back, defends while forwards Jarred Vanderbilt, left, and Markieff Morris look on during the second half on Friday night in Denver. Reaves had 37 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in a 131-126 loss. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., right, goes up for a basket as Lakers center Christian Koloko defends in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, left, collects a loose ball as Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. defends in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers forward Markieff Morris, left, and Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun battle for control of a rebound in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Jordan Goodwin reacts after hitting a 3-point basket in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, front, drives past Lakers guard Dalton Knecht in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Bronny James waits for play to resume in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., center, collects a loose ball as Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt, left, and center Alex Len defend in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone gestures for a challenge to a call in the second half of a game against the Lakers, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, back, defends against Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, front, drives past Lakers guard Jordan Goodwin (30) as Denver center Nikola Jokic looks on in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, right, argues after he was called for a foul by referee Jason Goldenberg in the second half of a game against the Lakers, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Bronny James, center, saves a ball from bounding out of play as center Christian Koloko (10) and Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook (4) look on in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. (1) drives to the basket between Lakers guards Jordan Goodwin (30) and Austin Reaves in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, left, confers with head coach JJ Redick in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook reacts after dunking for a basket late in the second half of a game against the Lakers, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Lakers guard Luka Doncic walks on the court during a time out in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
1 of 37
Lakers guard Dalton Knecht waits for play to resume during the first half of their game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Expand
DENVER — The nature of the NBA’s 82-game regular season naturally creates situations like the one the Lakers faced on Friday night against the Denver Nuggets.
On the road, down four of five starters. Without six of their top-eight rotation players. All during a stretch of six games in eight days, including three back-to-back sets, with Friday capping the first one.
When the Lakers’ injury report was released on Friday, which revealed that Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent would join the list of the team’s unavailable players, the matchup against the Nuggets could have been viewed as a schedule loss.
The Lakers didn’t treat it that way.
Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht and their teammates nearly pulled off an improbable victory at Ball Arena before falling to the Nuggets, 131-126, after Jamal Murray’s tiebreaking 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left and Russell Westbrook’s exclamation point dunk that sealed the win for Denver (43-24).
“I’m proud of the group for their level of fight and resiliency,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “There’s a lot we could have done better. But the group competed and we gave ourselves a chance to win.”
Reaves (37 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds) and Knecht (32 points) led the short-handed Lakers (40-25), with both players making clutch plays down the stretch that kept the team in the game before eventually suffering their fourth straight loss to close an 0-4 trip.
“You always want to win,” Reaves said. “And regardless of who you take the floor with, we feel like we could win, and we went and put ourselves in a good position to do that. Losing sucks, but I’m happy with what these guys in the locker room did.”
With the Lakers trailing 124-123, Reaves stripped reigning league MVP Nikola Jokic for his third steal of the game and converted a layup on the other end to put the Lakers ahead by one with just over a minute left after they had trailed by 13 in the third.
Knecht helped add to that lead after a Murray turnover led to the rookie dunking in transition to put the visitors up by three – with Knecht cramping up on takeoff and taking a hard fall on his head/shoulders but staying in the game with the Lakers up 126-123 with 52 seconds left.
With little time to go over defensive plans during a timeout as Redick checked on Knecht after his fall, Jokic (28 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals) converted an and-1 floater over Christian Koloko, making the free throw to tie the score at 126 apiece with 48 seconds left.
“The play that Jokic got the and-one, I’ll take some ownership of that just because that was a short timeout and I ran on the floor to check on DK,” Redick said. “And then I ran back and I didn’t have time to really get us the right substitutions and matchups that I would have wanted. And that’s not a knock on CK, but I just kind of put him in a tough spot knowing that Jokic was going to go quick.”
After Reaves missed a jumper that would have put the Lakers up by two, Murray (26 points, five assists, four rebounds) sprung free out of a pick-and-roll with Jokic and knocked down a pull-up 3-pointer for a 129-126 Nuggets lead – just the latest big shot he has hit against the Lakers.
“[Jokic and I] were tangled up, trying to get up there when I saw Murray come up,” Knecht said of the play. “And CK told me to go out there and switch. It was kind of hard.”
Westbrook (17 points, seven assists, six rebounds) picked off Shake Milton’s inbounds pass on the Lakers’ ensuing possession, scoring the game-sealing basket.
After leading by 11 in the first and keeping the game close at halftime, trailing 71-67, the Lakers were on the cusp of being blown out before they used a 19-9 run to close the third quarter and cut a 13-point deficit to 102-99.
Knecht, starting near his hometown of Thornton, Colorado, had his highest-scoring game since mid-November.
“I told him in the huddle, I said, ‘Hey, if you want to shoot it, shoot it. I don’t care if you shoot it 35 times, we’re going to need every bucket you can get,’” Reaves said of Knecht. “So he’s a hooper.”
Milton (16 points, five rebounds, three assists) and two-way guard Jordan Goodwin (10 points, six rebounds) both scored in double figures for the Lakers with the increased playing time opportunities.
Koloko (eight points, seven rebounds) impressed with his second-half defense, altering multiple shots at the rim that didn’t end with blocks and denying Jokic the ball late.
“The spirit was great,” said Redick, whose team had an eight-game winning streak before this trip. “It’s been that and will continue to be that. And I think it was a good opportunity for a number of guys to play bigger minutes, Shake, in particular. Christian, defensively, in the second half was awesome. So happy for those guys that they played well.”
Despite feeling under the weather, Bronny James played 16 minutes and contributed five points.
LeBron James missed his third straight game with a left groin strain and returned to Los Angeles along with Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) and Jaxson Hayes (bruised right knee) ahead of the Lakers’ game in Denver.
“We went 0-4, so it’s a pretty bad trip,” Reaves said. “But JJ said a week ago, ‘Everybody’s like Lakers in five.’ So we just don’t listen to any of it. We know when we’re fully healthy and got everybody on the team that we have a really good chance to beat anybody.
“I just see this group, coming together, locking in on one common goal and that’s to win. And [Friday] is the biggest testament to that. Very shorthanded and went and played a really good basketball team with probably the best player in the world. And went toe to toe and had an opportunity to win it. Just didn’t execute the last 50 seconds.”