LOS ANGELES — For better and for worse, the Los Angeles Lakers are a second-half team.
The Lakers kicked off March facing two of the top three teams in the Western Conference. The No. 3 ranked and defending NBA Champion Denver Nuggets visited Crypto.com Arena in a 124-114 comeback win. Two days later on March 4, the Lakers bounced back with a 116-104 win over the 2 ranked Oklahoma City Thunder.
One of the high points in the Nuggets matchup came at the 10:41 mark in the second quarter, when Lakers forward LeBron James became the first and only NBA player to reach 40,000 career points.
“Hate that it had to happen in a defeat,” James said to the media postgame. “Bittersweet, but enjoyed every moment tonight out on the floor.”
The night started off sweet as the Lakers took their first lead early in the first quarter and didn’t let it go until late in the third. The Lakers absolutely controled the first half with their largest lead being 11 points.
On paper, the first half was matched pretty evenly. The Lakers shot 57% from the field compared to Denver’s 54%. The story was the same beyond the arc, as well. The Lakers shot 40% from three and Denver was close behind with 35%.
What put the Lakers in the driver’s seat was the effort and execution. While the Nuggets finished the first half with 25 rebounds compared to the Lakers’s 18, seven Denver turnovers allowed the Lakers to capitalize off of the reigning champions’ mistakes.
Hustle plays paired with a team 75% free throw percentage off of six Denver fouls led the Lakers to a 66-58 lead over Denver at halftime.
Much of the third quarter was marked by the same Laker lead. The Nuggets would tie the score 75-75 at the 6:30 mark before eventually regaining the lead for the first time since early in the first.
The Lakers battled back valiantly; they kept Denver’s lead under five points into the beginning of the fourth and even got back out in front. When they missed shots, they recovered with rebounds and blocks.
But Denver’s shooting slump was over right when the Lakers’ began. The Nuggets finished the second half shooting 64% from the field, while the Lakers slumped to 48%. And whenever their shooters missed, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic or forward Aaron Gordon were there swiftly with the putback.
With under four minutes left in the game, the Nuggets went on a 16-4 run. Jokic led his team with 35 points, 10 reboounds and seven assists. Forward Michael Porter Jr. was behind Jokic with 25 points while going 5 for 5 from three.
On his historic night, James scored 26 points and 9 assists. Lakers forward Rui Hachimura contributed 23 points on 66% shooting and center Anthony Davis led the defensive effort with 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.
“It’s always kind of the fourth quarter, the last six minutes or the last few minutes of the game,” James said. “They make plays, we don’t make plays, and that can be frustrating.”
The Nuggets’ third win against the Lakers this season meant that the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the regular season.
The Lakers only had one day to recover from the loss. Next, the purple and gold faced the young and dominating Oklahoma City Thunder who they had a 2-1 record against in the regular season.
The Thunder came out strong in the first quarter with a consistent lead that fluctuated around 10 points. But at the 10:04 mark in the second quarter, the curtains rose and the Lake Show began.
Lakers center-forward Jaxson Hayes kicked things off with an alley-oop from James. Hayes would play nearly 18 minutes in comparison to his season average of 11 minutes per game. The entire Lakers bench, including L.A.’s newest acquisition Harry Giles III, received some playing time.
The Thunder ended the first half shooting just 31% from the field compared to the Lakers’ 51%. Despite 12 turnovers, the Lakers had a 52-43 lead at halftime.
The Lakers improved from behind the arc in the second half, shooting 11 for 22. They finished the game shooting 47% from three. Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell shot 5 for 11 from three and was the Lakers’ top scorer, finishing with 26 points.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves had a nice shooting night as well, going 4 for 5 from behind the arc and scoring a total of 16 0n the night.
“A lot of stuff can be a distraction,” Russell said to media postgame. “Distract you from the main goal, which is put the ball in the hoop. I’ve seen [Reaves] over time just change his approach and stay locked in the moment.”
An impressive shooting performance from the pair of Lakers guards was anchored by a standout defensive showing from the team. The Lakers ended the night with 55 rebounds in comparison to the Thunder’s 35. The Lakers had 7 blocks for the night, matching the Thunder who lead the league with 6.8 blocks per game.
Lakers Head Coach Darvin Ham told the media during his postgame press conference he was pleased with his team’s ability to weather the early first-quarter storm that included plenty of Lakers turnovers. He told the team it was their best defensive half all season.
“It was contagious,” Ham said. “All of our guys were like-minded in terms of, again, having a defensive mentality and individual pride on the ball.”
A win and a loss means the Lakers currently have a 34-29 record and don’t move from the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference standings.