It wasn’t oxygen depletion that did in the Lakers on Monday.
Call it roster depletion.
The Denver Nuggets had no problem beating the short-handed Lakers in the thin air of the Mile High City, 122-109, to end the Lakers’ five-game winning streak.
There wasn’t much for Lakers fans to cheer, starting several hours before tip-off when LeBron James was ruled out because of lingering ankle soreness.
Almost 90 points worth of production sat out for the Lakers: James (29.1 points per game), Anthony Davis (27.4), Lonnie Walker IV (14.7), Austin Reaves (10.8) and Troy Brown Jr. (6.5).
Then starting guard Patrick Beverley injured his hip in the second quarter after slipping on a wet spot on the court. He left the game and did not return.
“Kudos to our guys that kept fighting. Just had a couple bad turnovers, a couple balls didn’t go our way,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “At the end of the day, I’m still happy where we are, the way we’re trending.”
The Lakers (19-22) hit the halfway point of the season in a tie for 11th place in the Western Conference. It could be worse for a team that started out 2-10 and played its 13th consecutive game without Anthony Davis.
It could also be better, naturally.
How strapped were the Lakers? Three of their players Monday had logged substantially more time this season with their G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.
Among them, rookie Max Christie got his first career start. The second-round draft pick didn’t disappoint, scoring 14 points and making six of eight shots.
“Just try to keep it simple. Play within yourself,” Ham said. “He can make a three, can put it on the floor also. Just got to be solid.”
The Lakers’ fast break sputtered without James and mustered only 11 transition points.
There were also some tough shooting performances. Dennis Schroder made only three of 13 shots and Russell Westbrook missed his first eight attempts, though he recovered well in the second half and finished with 25 points on 10-for-21 shooting.
Despite all the absences, the Lakers trailed by only five with a few minutes left in the third quarter after Cole Swider, another rookie, made a three-pointer in the corner.
Denver was just too much, though, uncorking a 21-6 run from there. The Nuggets were also too healthy.
Jamal Murray scored a season-high 34 points and MVP candidate Nikola Jokic added 14 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets (27-13), who moved into a tie for first in the Western Conference.
It’s definitely not all doom and gloom for the Lakers. Seven of their next eight games are at home, starting Thursday against Dallas. Also noteworthy, the Lakers have played the fewest home games of any West team other than Portland.
Help could be on the way — eventually. Ham said Monday that a pain-free Davis would keep ramping up his on-court work while slowly recovering from a stress fracture in his foot. Maybe he’ll be back by the end of the month. Maybe.
Until then, the Lakers must keep finding ways to win without him. They’re 7-6 since he was injured almost four weeks ago. Not great, but not terrible either, an apropos way to describe their season so far.
“Going into the second half of the season, hopefully we can create some [momentum] toward All-Star break and finish out strong,” Westbrook said.
-
