Luka Doncic’s hot first quarter sparks Lakers to win over shorthanded Nuggets

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Lakers guard Luka Doncic shoots over Denver Nuggets guard Jalen Pickett and forward Zeke Nnaji at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

The streamers eventually would fall Wednesday night. The huge cheers for Bronny James coming off the bench in the fourth quarter were bound to happen. Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” would play.

It was fated by the time fans started filing into the building.

The latest chapter in the Lakers-Nuggets rivalry was going to look a lot different, with word that Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray weren’t going to play buzzing around before the game.

The script was flipped, the Lakers and their fans used to seeing Nuggets come off the injury report ahead of games against them. But without Denver’s best players, all it was going to take from the Lakers was a focused performance to get the job done.

Read more: Lakers don’t shy away from ‘naked’ opportunities in blowout win over Spurs

By midway through the first quarter, Luka Doncic was so good that the bar for “focused performance” suddenly had been significantly lowered.

The Lakers handled the Denver Nuggets 120-108, Doncic’s monster first quarter enough to cover up for sluggish, sloppy play that might’ve cost them if Jokic and Murray were on the floor.

Doncic scored 21 points in the quarter, including nine in the first three minutes, to give the Lakers a lead that grew to 30 in the second half before they fully eased off the gas.

The Nuggets outscored the Lakers by 16 in the fourth quarter and still lost by 12, Doncic able to spend the final 12 minutes on the bench with the Lakers set to host Milwaukee on Thursday.

Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt dunks the ball in front of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

It’ll be the Lakers’ sixth game in eight days. They’re 3-2 in the first five.

Doncic finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. And while he cooled off significantly after the first quarter, his presence again allowed the Lakers (43-25) to take and make wide-open threes all game.

Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent…

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Publish date : 2025-03-20 04:48:00

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