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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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