Lakers prove schedule-doubters wrong with 105-96 win over Nuggets

To this point of the season, the question facing the Los Angeles Lakers has been how they would respond when they play more legitimate competition than the pretty lackluster group of teams they’ve faced so far. It doesn’t get much more legitimate than going into Denver to face the Nuggets while most of the Lakers are dealing with some sort of illness, and the team more than met that challenge in a 105-96 win.

The story from this one was LeBron James and Anthony Davis being by far the best players on the court. Sure, they didn’t have the kind of gaudy numbers you might normally associate with them, but when the Lakers needed plays to be made, they came through. Davis finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while James put up 25 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds.

L.A. won Tuesday night despite poor shooting efforts from, well, most of the guys they need to hit shots. Danny Green went 2-12 from the field and 1-7 from three. Kyle Kuzma looked lost for most of the game again, finishing 2-6 from the field. The Lakers will need more production from those guys moving forward, but figuring out a way to beat a really good Denver team despite that poor shooting is pretty impressive.

Also impressive Tuesday night was Rajon Rondo. With Alex Caruso facing foul trouble for much of the game — and eventually fouling out — Rondo needed to produce and he did. He finished the night with 11 points and 6 assists, and the Lakers continued to keep their goal of not losing two games in a row this season alive.

The Lakers will be back in action right away tomorrow night, as they’ll take on the Jazz in Utah on the second night of this back-to-back. If the Lakers can start a new win streak, that will be about as impressive a pair of wins as they’ve had this season.

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