Davis injured, LeBron and Westbrook still help Lakers overcome Denver Nuggets
Entering the latest match of the day today (December 17), both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets have the strongest lineup. On the Nuggets side, there is only the absence of striker Michael Porter Jr, who is suffering from a heel injury.
However, they still fly high with a series of 3 consecutive victories, rising to 3rd place in the Western rankings. Contrary to them, the home team Lakers is having a rather volatile record and is only ranked 12th on the rankings.
The match became tense from the first minute of the game. The two teams are constantly chasing the score. The gap is only 1 point when the first half of the match closes because no team is better in terms of the game.
Anthony Davis scored 10 points in the first half, but failed to score in the second despite playing eight minutes. He was clearly injured when he landed awkwardly after an effort under the backboard in the first half.
Although Davis continued to play until halftime, he did not return from the dressing room with his teammates. LeBron James took center stage in Davis's absence, sometimes accompanied by the 6 ft 11 tall Jokic.
Thanks to LeBron being the catalyst for the Lakers' attack alongside Westbrook, who accelerated to produce one of his best games of the season so far.
It was Westbrook and Thomas Bryant - who replaced Davis - who ran 8-0 in the fourth round to help the Lakers take the lead in a rather tense game.
Despite the efforts of Jokic and Murray on the Nuggets side in the final minutes of the game, the "king" scored 8 points in a row to help the Lakers sink Denver at Crypto Arena with a score of 126-108.
LeBron James is definitely the MVP of this match when he plays like he did in his twenties, possessing a "monster" set of stats with 30 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Not to be outdone by teammate Russell Westbrook got himself a triple double of 15 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists.
On the other side of the field, Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists for the Nuggets, the team broke a 3-game winning streak. Jamal Murray scored 23 and Aaron Gordon had 17, but Denver couldn't keep up the momentum in the Lakers' final two innings.
The injury created a new wave of uncertainty over Davis's often problematic health. He is averaging 28.8 points and 12.4 rebounds per game this season despite having to manage lower back stiffness for several weeks.
This is definitely bad news for fans of this team because the lack of AD in the way ahead is a huge loss.
In the next round on December 19, both teams will be playing at home. The Nuggets only have to meet the tanker team, the Hornets, and the Lakers will host a Wizards in crisis with a series of 6 consecutive defeats.
