Nikola Jokic scored 24 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and passed the ball nine times to help the Nuggets win the first of three games they have on the road. They had won eight of their last ten games, including three in a row.

The Nuggets lost a 15-point lead in the second half, but they never fell behind. They ended with a 10–2 run in the same building where they beat LA twice to sweep the Western Conference playoffs in May.

A copper figure of Kobe Bryant that is 19 feet tall was shown off by the Lakers three hours before the game. It’s not inside their downtown site. When they played Denver, the Lakers wore their old Black Mamba shirts. There were many tributes to Bryant that night, and in the last few minutes, people began yelling “Kobe! Kobe!” to support the teams that were playing. 
The Lakers’ great six-game road trip ended in their first game back after the break. It was their longest winning streak since the In-Season Tournament. He scored 32 points, and LeBron James added 25. Reaves scored 15 points and passed the ball 10 times, while James grabbed 9 boards and gave out 7 assists.

A few hours after they chose not to move at the trade deadline, the Lakers were really short on guards. Max Christie took D’Angelo Russell’s place because his left knee hurt. He scored seven points before spraining his right ankle just before halftime.

In the middle of the third quarter, Denver was ahead by 15 points. But with 6:41 left in the game, Skylar Mays’ alley-oop dunk to Davis tied the score. 
Reaves made a 3-pointer with 2:18 left to tie the game again. On the Nuggets’ next two plays, Murray made a 3-pointer and an 11-foot shot, though. With 1:05 left, Porter made a 3-pointer to seal the deal.

Neither of these teams made any big trades at the trade deadline. Even so, the Nuggets have more reason to be proud of their championship-winning core than the Lakers do. The Lakers have had more ups and downs.

That the Lakers didn’t move Russell before the deadline was due in large part to his better play in recent weeks. One of the starters, however, couldn’t play because he had surgery on Wednesday on his sore left knee that no one knew much about. 
Rob Pelinka, the general manager of the Lakers, said he didn’t make a move because he didn’t find a deal good enough to damage the team’s promise and unity. This month, Pelinka said he could only trade one first-round pick. This summer, he will be able to trade three in order to get a third great.

Pelinka stated, “It’s my job to always look for ways to improve our team, but you can’t buy a house that’s not for sale.”Making the right move wasn’t possible, and numbers can be tough at times. It wasn’t worth the chance of making a much bigger and more important move in June and July if we fired a small bullet now that would only make things a little better.

“We did everything we could, but the market is the market.” No one made a sale.

The Nuggets didn’t play Kentavious Caldwell-Pope because his right leg hurt. He used to play swingman for the Lakers. Justin Holiday had a bad night as a starter. He fouled out early in the fourth quarter and only scored two points in 22 minutes.