Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to a 127-102 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night, finishing with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists.
Michael Porter Jr. contributed 13 of his 24 points in the third quarter, helping the Nuggets outscore the Lakers 37-15 to take a 94-78 lead into the final period. Porter also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Christian Braun added 16 points, Russell Westbrook came off the bench to score 14 points and dish out 11 assists, and Jamal Murray also scored 14 points for the Nuggets, who had lost three of their last four games.
Denver, coming off a 123-120 loss to the Dallas Mavericks the night before, shot 61 percent from the field, including 16-of-32 from three-point range, and scored 31 points off 18 Lakers turnovers.
For the Lakers, Austin Reaves scored 19 points, LeBron James had 18 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, and Anthony Davis contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Lakers have now lost two straight after a six-game winning streak.
Los Angeles led by as many as 10 points late in the first half, but Denver cut the lead to six at halftime. The Nuggets then scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 65-63 lead.
Even after Murray left the game for a while after getting poked in the eye, the Nuggets kept growing their lead. Porter and Peyton Watson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 84-71.
Denver opened the fourth quarter with the first five points to go up 99-78, and the Lakers never got closer than 16 points before their starters were pulled.
The Nuggets shot 57.1 percent from the field in the first quarter and led 31-27.
After ending the first quarter with four straight points, Denver began the second quarter with three more points to extend their lead to 34-27. However, a 3-pointer from D’Angelo Russell with 9:50 left in the first half put the Lakers back in front 37-36.
James made a dunk off a steal and then hit a 3-pointer in transition to extend the Lakers’ lead to 46-38. He later threw a full-court pass to Dalton Knecht, who dunked, giving the Lakers their biggest lead of the game at 63-53 with 1:50 left in the half.
Los Angeles took a 63-57 lead into the break.
