The former Real Madrid player could not play in Denver, where the Los Angeles team competed until the end despite having seven players out injured

JOSÉ LUIS MARTÍNEZ

KEVIN CARTER

The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets in an almost heroic manner (131-126) despite arriving in Denver with seven absentees from their squad. Luka Doncic, hampered by a left calf injury and a right ankle sprain, did not even dress. His coach JJ Redick did not want to risk his physical problems getting worse and opted not to force the former Real Madrid player for the second consecutive night.

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The situation for the Lakers is starting to get dramatic. Without Luka Doncic and without LeBron James, who missed his third straight game with a left groin injury and returned to Los Angeles without even traveling to Denver along with fellow injured players Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) and Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion), the Angelenos arrived in a bind.

Lakers in trouble

And they were going to be even more so after announcing before the game that Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle), Gabe Vincent (left knee) and Trey Jemison III (illness) would also not be able to play. With so many absentees, they even had to resort to Bronny James, whom they called up from the G-League. He traveled to Denver and scored five points in the Lakers’ fourth straight loss.

And to make matters worse, Austin Reaves, despite not appearing on the injury report despite having an ice pack on his right wrist and hand after the loss to the Bucks, played hurt, but paradoxically was the best of his team with 37 points (4/10 three-pointers), eight rebounds, 13 assists and four steals, a statistical combination that only Magic Johnson and LeBron had achieved in the Lakers. He led along with Dalton Knecht (32 points and 5/13 three-pointers) and backup Shake Milton (16+5+3) the epic resistance of the Lakers.

A heroic resistance

Because after going down by 13 points, they did not let themselves go and got into the game in the third quarter with a 9-19 run (99-102), putting the Nuggets in trouble until they were just three points behind with 52 seconds left (123-126). That was as far as they could go, being finished off by a three-pointer from Jamal Murray (after taking advantage of a double block by Jokic) with 5.5 seconds left, and wrapping up the win with a steal and a dunk by Westbrook to leave their fans gasping with relief.

Nikola Jokic (28+7+5+3 steals+1 block) was again the leader of his team, supported by Jamal Murray with 26 points (5/9 three-pointers), four rebounds and five assists, Christian Braun (22+5+6) and substitute Russell Westbrook (17+6+7) in a game in which they were too fragile in front of a team of circumstances like the one presented by the Lakers.

Everything was fine a week ago, so now is not the time to lose faith

JJ Redick (Entrenador de los Lakers)

It was the fourth defeat for the Los Angeles team, who have seen how in a few days they have dropped from second to fifth place in the West. JJ Redick, their coach, sent a message of hope to his team: “Everything was fine a week ago, so now is not the time to lose faith,” he said.

Six games in eight days

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It was the fifth game in five days for the Lakers, who will play up to six in eight days before closing this marathon of games that is proving bloody for them due to the accumulation of absentees. On Sunday they will host the Suns (20.30 h) in a game in which the participation of LeBron is still ruled out and that of Doncic is in doubt.

We were playing good basketball, we had won seven or eight games in a row and we’ve been unlucky with injuries. Nobody feels sorry for us

JJ Redick (Entrenador de los Lakers)

“We were playing good basketball, we had won seven or eight games in a row, or whatever it was. And we’ve been unlucky with injuries and stuff. Even some who play are still a bit injured,” he said, alluding to Austin Reaves. “But like I said, nobody feels sorry for us. Everybody’s going to want to beat us by 30 points. So we have to find a way to avoid that and compete in games. There’s no easy fix. You just have to find a way.”