Lakers Drop Preseason Finale To Nuggets

The Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up their preseason slate on Friday night, hosting Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena.

Due to a slow start for the Lakers, the Nuggets essentially led through and came away with the win to drop L.A. to 2-3 this preseason.

Nuggets 121, Lakers 106: key takeaways from preseason finale

Lakers players out

As has been the case all preseason, the Lakers were missing some players due to minor injuries. Collin Sexton, Adou Thiero and Cameron Carr were all out, although JJ Redick still isn’t concerned any are dealing with long-term injuries.

New starting lineup?

Quentin Grimes had started the first four preseason games for the Lakers, but he shifted to a bench role in this one. The Lakers’ bench ball-handlers have struggled this preseason in Sexton’s absence, so Redick wanted to get a look at Grimes in that role.

This was the first game Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler played together this preseason, and the starting group was rounded out by defensive stalwarts Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle.

The first shift wasn’t great for that group as the Nuggets outscored them 17-8 to begin the game. The lack of offensive threats was apparent as Denver often blitzed Doncic, leaving Williams and Thybulle open.

Overall, it wasn’t a great first quarter for the Lakers as the Nuggets opened up a double-digit lead.

Lakers respond in second quarter

The Lakers did a better job of handling the Nuggets’ double teams in the second quarter, finding open shooters like Thybulle and Jake LaRavia for triples.

Doncic and Williams were also showing their connection off with the superstar finding the wing for multiple lobs. After trailing by as many as 17 in the first quarter, the Lakers responded in the second to cut their deficit to 62-55 going into the halftime locker room.

Luka Doncic and Ziaire Williams sit out second half

The Lakers’ two leading scorers from the first half, Doncic (15) and Williams (14) were done for the night as LaRavia and Grimes took their place in the starting lineup.

Things got a little chippy in the third quarter as Cameron Johnson elbowed Reaves in the face and was ejected after a review upgraded it to a Flagrant 2.

Towards the end of the third quarter, the rest of the Lakers’ starters went to the bench. The Lakers were trailing by about eight when that happened, and others more opportunities for L.A.

Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes finish strong

Two players who continued to impress during that stretch were Sandro Mamukelashvili and Grimes. Mamukelashvili ripped off eight straight points to keep L.A. within striking distance, trailing 88-83 going into the fourth. He also found Grimes for a triple, and the guard caught fire from there after a quiet first half.

Despite the quality play from those two though, the Lakers never got over the hump and wound up suffering the loss.

What’s next for the Lakers

The Lakers have now wrapped up their entire five-game preseason slate. The next time they take the court at Crypto.com Arena it will be for real as they open up the regular season against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.