The Nuggets won their seventh consecutive game against the Los Angeles Lakers, 114-106, on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena, where Kobe Bryant was honored pregame with a freshly unveiled statue. Here are three observations as Denver (36-16) moved into a two-way tie for first place in the Western Conference with Minnesota.
Nuggets are different in clutch time
The Lakers, flaws and all, are a pretty good clutch team. Their eight wins in games decided by three points or less are the most in the NBA. But the Nuggets boast the No. 1 clutch defense in the league, and it showed up again Thursday night. Los Angeles made only two shots from the field in the last five minutes as Denver engineered a late, tie-breaking 10-0 run.
At 94.7, Denver’s clutch defensive rating was already 3.3 points better than the second-best mark in the NBA and 5.3 better than third place entering this game.
Lakers’ coverage shows respect for Murray
Los Angeles blitzed Jamal Murray on practically every ball screen while Murray wasn’t sharing the floor with Nikola Jokic — a defensive strategy that implied respect for the Nuggets point guard who averaged 32.5 points on 50/40/90 shooting during the Western Conference Finals last spring. The Lakers were intent on making anyone else beat them when Murray was staggering with the second unit.
A few times throughout the night, Murray forced bad misses, but he also responded to the coverage with a handful of impressive passes, including a perfect find to Peyton Watson for a wing three at the end of the first quarter.
Jokic had a mostly shaky game for his standards — 24 points on 20 shots, six turnovers, generally outplayed by Anthony Davis — but Murray had him covered. It was Murray’s third consecutive double-digit assist game, and he made the shots that counted most with a go-ahead three and transition floater on back-to-back late possessions. He finished with 29 points, seven rebounds, 11 helpers, two steals and three turnovers.
Perhaps the best news of the night? Murray came away unscathed from a scary collision when Jaxson Hayes went flying into his legs in the second half.
Porter gets off on the right foot, but the wrong footing
Michael Porter Jr. might lead the league in shooting percentage with a foot on the 3-point line. He was integral in Denver’s fast start that stuck, scoring 11 of his 27 points in the first quarter. He was clearly in a rhythm with his jumper, but he robbed himself of two extra points by failing to get his toes behind the arc twice on makes. That’s a bit of a trend with Porter, who is one of the best volume 3-point shooters in the NBA but could be even better if a few long 2s counted toward his percentage.
Regardless, Porter had an effective overall game. His defensive activity was noticeable, he lobbed a perfect alley-oop to Aaron Gordon in transition, and he registered one of his best blocks of the season. When Austin Reaves gambled for a steal against Jokic late, Porter punished him with an open corner three to end the Lakers’ chances. The Nuggets are 9-3 when Porter scores 22 or more.
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