LeBron James had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers used a second-half turnaround to defeat the visiting Denver Nuggets 114-93 on Thursday.
Dennis Schroder scored 21 points as seven Lakers reached double figures. Talen Horton-Tucker contributed 17 points, Anthony Davis and Montrezl Harrell added 13 apiece and Kyle Kuzma chipped in 11. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 10 points.
Jamal Murray scored 20 points and Monte Morris had 16 for the Nuggets. JaMychal Green scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half.
Denver's Nikola Jokic had a subpar performance, scoring 13 points on 6-of-16 shooting while adding 10 rebounds and six assists.
The Nuggets led 58-46 at halftime, but a 13-6 run to open the third pulled the Lakers within five after James scored on a driving layup less than four minutes into the quarter. However, Denver maintained the lead until James hit a turnaround jumper with 1:39 remaining in the third to Los Angeles up 76-75.
A 3-pointer by Kuzma, a dunk by Harrell and a layup by Horton-Tucker capped a 15-0 Los Angeles surge, and the Lakers held a 83-75 edge heading into the fourth.
The Nuggets failed to score in the final 4:20 of the third, and the Lakers outscored them 37-17 in the period.
In the fourth, the Lakers pulled away. The hosts outscored the Nuggets 68-35 in the second half.
Los Angeles converted 56.8 percent of its field-goal attempts compared to 39.1 percent for Denver.
The Nuggets limited the Lakers to one basket during a six-minute stretch in the second quarter, allowing Denver to build a double-digit edge.
James surpassed Wilt Chamberlain (12,681) for No. 3 on career field goals made with his third bucket in the first quarter. James, who ended the night with 12,691, trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (15,837) and Karl Malone (13,528).
Nuggets guard Gary Harris (left adductor strain) missed the contest.
--Field Level Media
Denver | L.A. Lakers | |
Jamal Murray 20 | Scoring | LeBron James 27 |
Nikola Jokic 6 | Assists | LeBron James 10 |
Paul Millsap 10 | Rebounds | LeBron James 10 |
Jamal Murray 4 | Free Throws Made | Dennis Schroder 5 |
Paul Millsap 2 | Steals | Anthony Davis 3 |
Jamal Murray 1 | Blocks | Anthony Davis 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Denver | 93 | 39.1 | 8-28 | 13-15 | 19 | 42 | 2 | 9 | 17 |
L.A. Lakers | 114 | 56.8 | 8-24 | 14-22 | 29 | 40 | 7 | 10 | 16 |