Nuggets collapse against Lakers in most painful possible way

Everything was going right for the Nuggets on Tuesday night in Ball Arena. Until it wasn’t. They stormed out to an early lead over the Lakers behind 9-11 three-point shooting in the first quarter. They took it to another level during an 8-0 run to close the half, which was highlighted by a three-quarter-court circus heave by Jamal Murray at the buzzer to put Denver up 71-57 at recess.

But the wheels fell off after halftime, and the Nuggets struggled to find offense, scoring just 17 points in the third quarter, then allowing a 16-0 Lakers run during crunch time that saw the Lakers take a 108-96 lead with Denver missing 11 straight shots as they were outscored by LA, 58-36 in the second half.

What started as a great night for the Nuggets ended with Lakers fans taking over Ball Arena as Luka Doncic and LeBron James celebrated a 115-107 win. Doncic was unguardable, putting up 38 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, with LeBron approaching a triple-double of his own with 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Jamal Murray dominated the first half with 26 points and 7 assists, but LA managed to shut his water off after the break, as Murray finished with just 28 and 11 for the game, shooting just 1-6 in the final two quarters. Without Murray’s offense, the Nuggets were in big trouble, and nobody else managed to step up and carry the load.

Nuggets must hold the rope until Jokic returns

The Nuggets had been crushing it since Jokic’s injury, but now they’ve lost two straight games at home to the Hornets and Lakers, dropping their record to 29-15 on the season, and 7-5 without Jokic. That’s still solid, but the West is a gauntlet, and now they’re just one game up on the seventh-seeded Lakers in the loss column.

This comes on the heels of David Adelman’s pregame injury update, when he stated that Jokic’s recovery has been “up and down”, then suggested that Jonas Valanciunas will return before the Joker. It was a bit confusing and jarring, but shows that a return in the next few games may have been a pipe dream.

That’s hardly the end of the world, but it means the Nuggets need to hang onto the rope and finish off this stretch without Jokic. They’ve played well above anyone's expectations, but the job’s not finished. They can’t give it all back now and need to refocus and get back to the way they were playing a few days ago.

Hopefully, this is just a blip on the radar, and perhaps we’ve quickly gotten a little too comfortable with our expectations for the team without Jokic, but regardless of the circumstances, choking away a home game on national TV to a struggling Lakers squad is about as painful as it gets.