Lakers coach JJ Redick often makes reference to a lyric from an old Jay-Z song: “It was all good just a week ago.”
Entering Friday’s game against the Denver Nuggets, things were not good for the Lakers. They entered on a three-game losing streak. They were down three starters in LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes. A fourth, Luka Doncic, was sitting out on the second night of a back-to-back. Two more key rotation players, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent, also were unavailable as they managed long-term injuries.
A week ago, the Lakers were mostly healthy, flying to Boston on an eight-game winning streak. A week ago, they were climbing up the standings, not sliding.
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But even if the personnel didn’t mirror the Lakers from a week ago, at least the energy did Friday, the team pushing the Denver Nuggets over four quarters before making one too many mistakes in a 131-126 loss.
“I’m proud of the group for the level of fight and resiliency,” Redick said.
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic ran a pick-and-roll, opening Murray up for a clean look at a three-pointer with 5.6 seconds left. Like he has so many times against the Lakers, the Nuggets point guard hit the big shot.
Austin Reaves, who capped his rookie season with a 31-point triple-double in Denver, nearly led the Lakers (40-25) to the upset, scoring 37 along with 13 assists and eight rebounds. Dalton Knecht, starting near his hometown, had his most points since mid-November with 32 and Shake Milton scored 16 off the bench.
Knecht scored his final two points on a dunk, but landed awkwardly on his back and head. He was able to stay in the game.
“I told him in the huddle, I said, ‘Hey, if you want to shoot it, shoot it. I don’t care if you shoot it 35 times, we’re going to need every bucket you can get,’” Reaves told Knecht. “So he’s a hooper.”
The Lakers led by three in the final minute before a Jokic three-point play and Murray’s triple. All five starters scored in double figures for Denver (43-24).
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Reaves, who had to ice his right wrist after the Lakers’ loss in Milwaukee on Thursday, said he wasn’t sure if he’d play, but ultimately, the chance to compete carried him.
“We know when we’re full healthy and got everybody on the team that we have a really good chance to beat anybody,” Reaves said. “I just see this group, coming together, locking in on one common goal and that’s to win. And tonight I think is the biggest testament to that. Very shorthanded and went and played a really good basketball team with, probably the best player in the world. And went toe to toe and had an opportunity to win it and just didn’t execute the last 50 seconds.”
Friday, he played 39 minutes.
“Certainly asked a lot of him on the second night of a back-to-back, not just the 40 minutes, but just the vast majority of playmaking duties,” Redick said. “And I thought he did an outstanding job.”
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The Lakers had a chance to force overtime, but they couldn’t get the inbound pass to Reaves, with Russell Westbrook getting the steal and dunking in the final seconds.
Before the game, Redick again sounded optimistic about the Lakers’ getting more help over the next week, when the team plays five games in Los Angeles, including a pair of back-to-backs Sunday and Monday and Wednesday and Thursday to wrap a stretch where they’ll play six times in eight days.
The Lakers are the first team since 2022 to have six games in eight days, the Lakers playing a makeup game with the San Antonio Spurs that was postponed during the wildfires in January.
They head back to L.A. season-long four-game losing streak, with full health still some time away.
“We went 0-4, so it’s a pretty bad trip. But… JJ said, ‘a week ago, everybody’s like Lakers in five.’ So we just don’t listen to any of it,” Reaves said. “We know when we’re full healthy and got everybody on the team that we have a really good chance to beat anybody. I just see this group, coming together, locking in on one common goal and that’s to win. And tonight I think is the biggest testament to that.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
