Lakers Lose To Nuggets Despite LeBron James’ 40,000-Point Milestone

(CTN News) – It was a bittersweet night for LeBron James, as the Lakers lost 124-114 to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday in their home opener.

When the Lakers (33-29) led for most of Saturday, it looked like James’ milestone was going to come in a victory.

Despite that, the Nuggets (42-19) dominated the fourth quarter, closing on a 16-4 run for their sixth consecutive win.

Including last season’s four-game Western Conference finals sweep, the Lakers have lost eight straight to the Nuggets.

In their games, they always win in the last two, three minutes,” Anthony Davis said. It’s the same action. Our help put them in limbo a lot of times. We’re either overhelping or not helping enough in the last few minutes when they get to their fourth-quarter package. We always get punished by this team for our mistakes.”

James finished with 26 points, nine assists, and four rebounds on 12-of-20 shooting.

While defending Nikola Jokic (35 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists) for significant stretches, Rui Hachimura scored 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting.

With 19 points and 14 assists, Austin Reaves had a career high. D’Angelo Russell had 17 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks, while Davis finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks.

With a layup over Michael Porter Jr. at 10:39 in the second quarter, James reached the milestone for the Lakers.

A little over a minute later, the Lakers called a timeout, and James acknowledged the crowd with a montage of memorable moments from his career.

We played some good basketball, but we weren’t able to close it out. I enjoyed every minute on the floor.”

For the remainder of the second, the Lakers led 66-58 at halftime. In the third, Jokic scored 13 points in 212 minutes to give the Nuggets an 88-85 lead.

They have five threats on the floor at once, and Joker is their biggest threat. “That’s what makes it hard.”

It was 110-108 with 4:11 left after a James layup off a Reaves assist.

From there, the Nuggets took over.

A pull-up 3 by Aaron Gordon (18 points, nine rebounds, five assists) gave the Nuggets a 111-110 lead with under four minutes left, Gordon’s only three of the game.

The Nuggets ran off a 9-0 run with two minutes left, giving them a 117-110 lead over the Lakers with Jokic, Jamal Murray and Justin Holiday all making 2.

Porter had 25 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists on perfect 10-for-10 shooting.

Davis hit a stepback jumper over Jokic with 1:49 left, cutting the Lakers’ deficit to 117-112.

Coach Darvin Ham said they want to win any game, not just against the defending champs. “We need as many wins as possible right now. Just things we need to work on. It’s a tough team. There’s just a few things we’ve got to work on.”

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