Ty Lawson had 32 points and 16 assists and carried the Denver Nuggets to a much-needed 106-96 win over the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night in L.A.
The win means the Nuggets can head into the all-star break, if not feeling good about the state of their season, than at least with a win under their belt and no longer on a six-game skid.
The Nuggets also got solid performances out of forwards Darrell Arthur, who had 15 points and five rebounds, and J.J. Hickson, who had 13 points and added seven rebounds.
But really, it was all Lawson in this one. The point guard had his jump shot going, and when he wasn’t scoring, he was was setting up his teammates. One night after looking like he’d finally found his three-point stroke, Lawson looked extremely aggressive getting into the lane.
LAWSON SHOT CHART:
It also helped that Lawson went 7-8 from the line, a product of his aggressiveness in the lane.
Of course, even with Lawson’s hot night, the Nuggets still shot just 25 percent from behind the arc, and not surprisingly, the game was close throughout the evening. Denver trailed as late as the fourth quarter and led by just one with under three minutes left in the game.
But, like most of the evening, Lawson took over. He made two straight jump-shots, and after a Darrell Arthur make (that Lawson assisted on), Lawson drove to the basket for two and then drained his final three-pointer to end his great evening.
Two players have gone for 30+ pts and 15+ ast this season, Steph Curry and Ty Lawson (tonight). Both performances have come vs the Lakers.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 11, 2015
The Nuggets didn’t get much from the rest of their starters – Wilson Chandler pitched in with 13 points, but Kenneth Faried only had two points, and Jusuf Nurkic and Arron Afflalo had just six apiece (though Nurkic did add five rebounds and four blocks). Luckily for Denver, they were playing the Lakers, who seem determined to stay ahead of Denver in the lottery odds come draft time.
The Nuggets will now get to enjoy some time off and hopefully come back with little more fight than they’ve shown over the past month – if this version of Lawson shows up more often than not, the rest of the season be at least entertaining.
Zach Marburger is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached via email at zmarburger@milehighsports.com or on Twitter @BurchBurger.
