This has been more than a bad matchup; it’s been nearly a guarantee.
After being swept in the 2023 Western Conference finals, the Lakers added size and muscle while building around an existing core to try to match the Denver Nuggets a season later.
Those changes ended up mattering so little, Denver winning all four regular-season meetings and losing just once in the first-round playoff series between the teams last season. That defeat led to the Lakers making another change, this one on the sideline, with JJ Redick replacing Darvin Ham as coach.
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And entering Saturday’s first game with Denver this season, the Lakers looked like a team that had righted some of its wrongs. They would, undoubtedly, be more prepared for what Denver was going to throw at them, after that had been a concern players voiced privately last season. They would, undoubtedly, play with confidence despite a ghastly late loss to Orlando on Thursday after a barrage of missed free throws in the final minutes.
They were getting back a starter, Rui Hachimura, and the Nuggets would again be without one of theirs, Aaron Gordon. And, because Denver played Friday night, the Lakers would be the more energetic team with everything to prove against a foe that has just dominated them.
Too much had changed for it to somehow remain the same. Right?
But as Anthony Davis slumped after missing a floater over Nikola Jokic during a disastrous third quarter, and the Nuggets raced back up the floor, the stench of familiarity filled the Lakers’ home arena.
Everyone was right to be concerned as the Lakers looked lifeless — the Nuggets were on a roll in a 127-102 win and the Lakers, of all teams, sure weren’t going to be the ones to stop them.
And even if the Lakers coach saw it differently, the results were the same.
“I have a pretty clear idea of what happened in the third. But whatever it was, it was not because we were haunted of the ghosts of the past or something like that,” Redick said. “It was kind of obvious to me what happened there. Just not the right spirit.”
Russell Westbrook, who entered the game to boos off the Denver bench, sent the Lakers’ starters to the bench to the same noise after his three-pointer put the Nuggets up 26 with 4:23 left.
LeBron James and Davis combined to make just 13 of 36 shots, with James committing six turnovers, giving him 36 over the last six games.
James and D’Angelo Russell both declined to speak with the media after the game.
“It was just bad overall,” Davis said of the Lakers’ mistakes.
The Davis miss that left him slumped came after one of Denver’s 18 turnovers — the Lakers managed to score just 18 points off those mistakes. There were critical missed opportunities, chances the Lakers (10-6) needed to take advantage of to beat a team that has their number.
Instead, they missed shots and stalled offensively, the Nuggets making sure each Lakers mistake ended with pain. Denver scored 31 points on 15 Lakers turnovers.
Jokic, as usual, was the best player on the floor, scoring 34 points to go with 13 rebounds and eight assists. Davis, clearly bothered by the reigning most valuable player, scored just 14 on six-for-19 shooting — his worst game this season.
“I just missed shots. I think all great looks,” Davis said. “It’s a miss-or-make league. I’ll make more than I’ll miss, for sure. You always wish you can make every shot. I’m confident in every shot I took. They’re shots that I normally make. All of us, to be honest. Shots that that we all normally make, we just missed. But I like every shot that I took tonight. They just didn’t go in.”
Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 19 points, but the Nuggets made sure only one stat ended up mattering — they outscored the Lakers 70-39 in the second half.
“Clearly,” Redick said, “the spirit to compete just wasn’t there.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
