Nikola Jokic scored 35 points and Michael Porter Jr. added 25 as the visiting Denver Nuggets extended their winning streak to six games with a 124-114 victory Saturday over the Los Angeles Lakers, spoiling the latest milestone for LeBron James.
While James had the spotlight early, becoming the first player in NBA history to pass the 40,000-point mark, the Nuggets owned the game by getting 24 points and 11 assists from Jamal Murray and 18 points from Aaron Gordon.
Porter was 10 of 10 from the floor, while Porter and Jokic each had 10 rebounds.
James scored 26 points with nine assists on his historic night, while Rui Hachimura added 23 points. Anthony Davis scored 17 points with 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who entered 9-3 since Feb. 1.
Austin Reaves had 19 points with 14 assists and D’Angelo Russell added 17 points for Los Angeles, which lost to Denver for the second time in just over three weeks.
With all eyes on James, who needed nine points for 40,000, the Lakers’ star hit the milestone on a spinning drive and left-handed layup with 10:39 remaining before halftime.
James’ basket gave the Lakers a 37-32 lead and Los Angeles went up by 11 points twice in the second quarter before leading 66-58 at the break.
Denver used a 7-0 run to take an 86-82 lead with 3:13 remaining in the third quarter and the game was tied 89-89 entering the final period.
The Nuggets led by as many as five points early in the fourth quarter at 99-94 with the Lakers taking a 108-105 lead with just under five minutes remaining on a Reaves 3-pointer. Denver moved in front 111-110 with 3:49 left on a 3-pointer from Gordon.
The Gordon basket was the start of a 9-0 run for the Nuggets that gave them a 117-110 lead with 2:03 remaining after a layup from Justin Holiday. Gordon sealed the victory on a 3-point play off an alley-oop dunk with 31 seconds remaining.
The Nuggets played without former Laker Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was out for personal reasons.
–Field Level Media