In a repeat of the Western Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers and the reigning champion Denver Nuggets kicked off the 2023–24 regular season on Tuesday night.

The Lakers, however, were defeated by the Nuggets 119-107, thus they did not have the favorable start they had hoped for.

Both teams shot well in their first possessions, but Taurean Prince’s consecutive 3-pointers gave the Lakers an early 10–7 lead. LeBron James managed to go downhill for a pair of layups, but midway through the first quarter, the Nuggets’ offensive efficiency had them up 20–16.

Early on, Nikola Jokic was a threat in the paint, pulling down two offensive rebounds and making several more jumpers from close range to give Denver a double-digit lead. Despite a terrific two-way sequence with a steal and a basket by D’Angelo Russell, Los Angeles entered the second quarter behind 34–20.

James stemmed the pace with another difficult drive, but the Nuggets’ impressive outside shooting continued to open the second quarter with a couple of 3-pointers. Even though Denver began to settle down on the field as Anthony Davis heated up, Los Angeles was still down 47-34 following another Jokic basket.

In an attempt to push Jokic into foul trouble, the Lakers tried to persuade Davis to go one-on-one with him. In order to close the half, both James and Davis chose to take control of the offense, and between them, the two superstars helped the club to a respectable halftime deficit of 63–54.

After James disheveled an outlet pass to Taurean Prince, who put Los Angeles within five points, Austin Reaves opened the third quarter with a steal and dunk. Despite the Nuggets’ brief return to a double-digit lead, the Lakers managed to mount a comeback and maintain a threat.

But on both ends of the court, the purple and gold went back into a lull, which gave Denver the opportunity to retake the lead. In spite of this, James managed to lead a late 9-0 run to tie the game at 87-80 entering the fourth.

James appeared to be playing with more aggression as he scored to pull them within three points after receiving a great feed from Gabe Vincent. James was replaced, though, and the Nuggets quickly answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 101-90.

Mike Malone would call a timeout to calm things down whenever Los Angeles attempted to gain momentum, and Denver would counter with a quick run to hold them at bay. The Lakers attempted to rally in the final minutes, but they were unable to overcome the gap and would suffer their first defeat of the regular season.