Fresh off the back of suffering their first home defeat of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers welcome the Denver Nuggets to the Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night.
This will be the first meeting between the two Western Conference sides since they clashed in the first round of the playoffs back in April, when the Nuggets prevailed in a five-game series.
Match preview
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The Los Angeles Lakers were condemned to their first home defeat of the campaign on Thursday night as they fell to a disappointing 119-118 loss against a shorthanded Orlando Magic side at the Crypto.com Areba.
Anthony Davis surprisingly choked at the line, missing three of his four attempts in the final minute before Franz Wagner knocked down a contested game-winning step-back 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to a season-high 37-point shooting display.
Davis shot 14-of-22 from the field to put up 39 points, one point shy of his season's best tally, while LeBron James tallied 31 points and 10 rebounds to record his ninth double-double of the campaign.
Before that, JJ Redick's men were on a run of six consecutive victories, including a thrilling 128-123 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on November 14, when LeBron dropped 35 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists at the Crypto.com Arena.
The Los Angeles Lakers, who are 10-5 for the season and fourth in the Western Conference standings, now go up against an opposing side who knocked them out of the playoffs last courtesy of a 4-1 victory in the first round.
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The Denver Nuggets, on the other hand, saw their five-game winning streak at home come to an end on Friday night as they fell 123-120 against the Dallas Mavericks in their NBA Cup clash.
Having missed the previous three matches, three-time MVP Nikola Jokic put on a show on his return to action, dropping 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists to record a triple-double for the fifth consecutive game.
However, seven players finished in double figures for the Mavericks, led by Naji Marshall, who knocked down 26 points in 26 minutes of action to see off a second-half rally from the hosts and secure a fourth win on the bounce for the first time since May.
The Denver Nuggets have now lost three of their most recent four matches — with a 122-110 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night being the exception — having won fine straight games preceding this run.
While Michael Malone's men have dropped to fourth place in the Western Conference Group C standings, having lost two of their three cup games, they remain fourth in the conference power ranking, one spot behind the Lakers.
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Team News
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The Los Angeles Lakers remain without the services of Christian Wood (knee), Jaxson Hayes (ankle) and Jarred Vanderbilt (foot), who are all recuperating from injuries.
Rui Hachimura has missed each of the last four matches through an ankle problem and is not expected to suit up on Sunday while Jalen Hood-Schifino has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Jokic recorded a fifth 20+ point triple-double on the spin with his standout display against the Mavericks last time out, becoming just the seventh player in NBA history to achieve this feat.
The Serb, who is the third-leading scorer in the league with 30.0 points per game, has recorded 137 career triple-doubles and now sits just one shy of Magic Johnson for the third all-time record.
On the injury front, Aaron Gordon has been sidelined since sustaining a left calf strain in the game against the Toronto Raptors on November 5 and the 29-year-old is multiple weeks away from recovery.
Malone has confirmed that forward Vlatko Cancar is out for the foreseeable future through a knee injury while rookie DaRon Holmes II continues his journey to full fitness after suffering a torn right Achilles.
Los Angeles Lakers possible starting 5:
Knecht, Reaves, Davis, Reddish, LeBron
Denver Nuggets possible starting 5:
Murray, Braun, Jokic, Watson, Porter Jr
We say: Los Angeles Lakers to win by 3+ points.
The return of Jokic is a huge boost for the Nuggets, who will need all the firepower that they can get as they look to secure a huge win over fellow Western Conference contenders.
Meanwhile, the Lakers will look to bounce back from their disappointing loss against the Magic, and while we expect Denver to put up a fight, we are tipping Redick's side to come out on top at the Crypto.com Arena.
Joshua Ojele
