The Lakers came in feeling good riding a 5 game winning streak and a Christmas Day win against a good New York Knicks team. That good feeling only lasted 1 day as they fall to the Nuggets 126-114.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers in scoring with 40 points and that extended his streak of consecutive games of scoring 30 or more to 10 games.
Corey Brewer led the Nuggets with 27 points including shooting 6 for 7 from behind the arc. Kenneth Faried was supurb on this night, scoring 21 points and 15 rebounds, 9 of them on the offensive glass.
The Nuggets killed the Lakers on the glass, out rebounding them 48 to 38 and most impressively, 20 to 11 on the offensive glass.
The defensive problems of the Lakers continue as evidence by the Nuggets scoring 126 points, shooting 48% from the field and outscoring the Lakers in the paint, 58 to 38.
The Nuggets got the lead up to 15 points at around the 9 minute mark in the 4th quarter and they never looked back. The Lakers were never able to get closer than 7 points.
The Denver Nuggets extended their halftime lead up to as much as 13 in the 3rd quarter. At the 5:02 mark Dwight Howard was hit with a flagrant foul 2 and was ejected from the game after a hard straight arm to Kenneth Faried during a drive to the basket. Without Dwight, the Lakers were still able to get chip away at the lead and get it down to 9 at the end of the 3rd quarter. The Lakers were led by Kobe with his 11 3rd quarter points.
Pau Gasol got it going in the 2nd with 12 points in the quarter which included two 3 pointers. The Nuggets took a three point lead (57-54) into halftime behind a 31 to 21 rebounding advantage over the Lakers
The Lakers trailed the Nuggets after the 1st quarter, 26-29. Kobe Bryant put in 8 first quarter points but was outshined in the 1st by Kenneth Faried of Denver who started quickly with 11 points and 9 rebounds.
– Fern Rea “@fullcourtfern”
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