LeBron James isn’t going to play tonight, but that doesn’t make this Denver Nuggets game too much less meaningful.

Obviously, LeBron changes the complexion of this matchup with his elite playmaking, versatility, and basketball IQ on both ends of the floor. Even without him though, the Lakers can win this game. That’s what happens when you trade for a Top five player in the NBA during the middle of the season for an absolute bargain contract.

The Nuggets got embarrassed the last time these two teams played, so let’s delve back into the Los Angeles Lakers matchup:

Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers

Projected Starting Lineups

Denver: Russell Westbrook, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Nikola Jokic

Los Angeles: Gabe Vincent, Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, Jaxson Hayes

Key Bench Players

Denver: Jalen Pickett, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, DeAndre Jordan

Los Angeles: Jordan Goodwin, Dalton Knecht, Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Koloko

Notable Injuries

Denver: Nikola Jokic – PROBABLE, Jamal Murray – PROBABLE, Aaron Gordon – QUESTIONABLE, Christian Braun – PROBABLE, Zeke Nnaji – PROBABLE, Julian Strawther – OUT, DaRon Holmes II – OUT

Los Angeles: SECOND NIGHT OF BACK-TO-BACK. LeBron James is out. Rui Hachimura missed last night. Lakers are unknown.

Key for the Nuggets – Let Luka Doncic cook

Let’s face it: Luka Doncic is going to cook the Nuggets a TON as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s inevitable.

That doesn’t mean the Nuggets have to let Luka and the Lakers win. Instead, the best way to guard Luka Doncic is to prevent him from getting others involved consistently. The Milwaukee Bucks just did this successfully, with the Lakers scoring just 106 points last night. Luka Doncic had 45 of them. Austin Reaves had 28. The rest of the team had 33, and the Bucks did a good job of limiting assist opportunities for Doncic (three assists to six turnovers).

Can the Nuggets employ a similar game plan? It’s one thing to allow Luka to go off. It’s quite another if he helps get other players going with his crosscourt passing and flare for lobs at the rim.

Important Matchup – Nikola Jokic vs Lakers frontcourt

It’s pretty simple: Jokic shot 2-of-7 from the field and committed six turnovers against a defense that was entirely geared toward making his life hell. The Lakers were successful, and while they’re on a back-to-back and a bit more banged up, it’s possible they deploy similar strategies to harry Jokic as much as possible.

Can Jokic find room to operate against an undersized but highly intelligent Lakers contingent? Denver has this game and another matchup in a few days against Los Angeles. It would behoove them (obviously) to get Jokic back into rhythm against this group.

Number of the Day – 0.833

The Nuggets rank 29th in the NBA in Defensive Rating during the first half of games this year. They give up a ton of points, but when they give up juuuuust slightly fewer, they’re fairly successful. The Nuggets have a 15-3 record in games when they allow 55 points or fewer in the first half a win percentage of 0.833. That seems pretty good! It’s the fifth highest win percentage among all NBA teams when they accomplish the same thing. The problem? The Nuggets have done it just 18 times, tied for the fourth fewest in the entire NBA.

Play some first half defense!

 

Nugget who should have a good game: Jamal Murray

Let’s try this again. Murray should have had a better game against the Timberwolves on Wednesday, so let’s see if he can bounce back with a strong performance tonight. Without LeBron James and Rui Hachimura in the lineup, the Lakers started Gabe Vincent, Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Jaxson Hayes against the Milwaukee Bucks last night. It was a smaller group, but there’s still no true on-ball defender to check Murray. He has an opportunity to play with more aggressiveness than he showed against the Timberwolves. Let’s see if he can capitalize.