The early season frustrations for the Los Angeles Lakers continued on Wednesday night, as they got shut down by the Denver Nuggets, 110-99.
Yet again, the offensive end of the floor was the bone of contention for L.A., but its defense wasn’t too sharp either, as Nuggets point guard Bruce Brown hit 4-of-6 from 3-point range and finished with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
At one point, Brown talked some trash to LeBron James about the Lakers’ ability to get the job done defensively.
Bruce Brown said the Lakers were closing out short to him all game. Him and LeBron James exchanged some words and he told him “you game plan ain’t working sir.”
— Katy Winge (@katywinge) October 27, 2022
For a brief period of time on Wednesday, it looked like the Lakers had a real chance of getting their first victory of the season.
They were competitive throughout the first quarter, and despite falling behind by 10 points late in the second quarter, they made a nice spurt to tie the score at 54 at halftime.
But L.A. could only muster 17 points in the third quarter, and other than another short spurt early in the final frame, it was basically out of contention for most of the second half.
As was the case in their first three contests, the Lakers couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, as they went just 8-of-30 from 3-point range. Denver wasn’t any better in that regard, as it shot 9-of-34 from downtown, but it outplayed the Lakers in many other facets.
The Nuggets outpaced L.A. in rebounds, assists, free throws, forced turnovers and fast-break points, and it appeared they simply had too much manpower for the Purple and Gold to deal with.
James had a bad night, as he made just 8-of-21 shots and committed eight turnovers. For much of the game, he didn’t push the ball and attack in transition the way he normally does, and it bogged down his team’s offense.
The Lakers will travel north to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday before returning home to host these same Nuggets on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
