Lakers vs. Nuggets preview: Familiar opponent

The Lakers (25-16) will their eight-game road in Denver where they will take on the Nuggets (29-14) on Tuesday. This will be Los Angeles’ longest road trip of the season, which is also known as the famous annual “Grammy trip.”

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets

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When: 7 p.m. PT, Jan. 20

Where: Ball Arena

Watch: NBC, Spectrum Sportsnet

It wasn’t that long ago when the Nuggets had the Lakers’ number. The infamous playoff sweep in 2003 as well as the nine-game winning streak they had on the purple and gold still hits a nerve simply because LA had no answer for the Nuggets’ dominance.

Then Luka Dončić crashed the party in February 2025 and changed the narrative. In fact, Dončić’s first iconic game as a Laker was against the Nuggets on the road when he led them to victory after putting up 31 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and a steal. Since then, L.A. has triumphed in two of its past three matchups against Denver.

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But even if the Lakers are in a completely new era, the Nuggets have still remained consistently competitive. That’s all thanks to the brilliance of Nikola Jokic and their core, who have picked up the slack for each other and carried their team to third place in the Western Conference standings despite all the injuries they’ve dealt with all season.

Los Angeles will stumble upon a Denver team sans Jokic, who is still recovering from a knee injury. Still, they should expect a competitive Nuggets team that has won seven out of its last 11 games without Joker. Here’s what to take note of ahead of Tuesday’s battle between both teams:

Expect a lot of Jamal Murray

Yup, that’s right. Jamal Murray has been carrying this team since Jokic’s injury and he’s playing like an All-Star while doing so. Murray’s numbers this season are some of the best he’s had in his career as he’s putting up 26.2 points a game on 45.1% shooting from the 3-point line and 48.8% from the field. He’s making the most out of the extra possessions he’s been getting and that’s something that can’t happen against the Lakers.

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Publish date : 2026-01-20 23:49:00

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