Nikola Jokic scored 24 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and dished out nine assists to help the defending NBA champion Nuggets win their first of three road games. It was their third straight win and eighth in ten games. 
The Nuggets lost a 15-point lead in the second half, but they never fell behind and ended with a 10–2 run in the same building where they beat LA twice to sweep the Western Conference playoffs last May.

Three hours before the game, the Lakers revealed a copper figure of Kobe Bryant that is 19 feet tall. It is outside of their downtown venue. The Lakers wore their Black Mamba alternate jerseys when they played Denver. The night was full of tributes to Bryant, and in the last few minutes, the crowd started shouting “Kobe! Kobe!” to cheer on the current Lakers. 
The Lakers’ longest winning streak since the In-Season Tournament ended in their first game back after a good six-game road trip. Anthony Davis scored 32 points and LeBron James scored 25. Austin Reaves had 15 points and 10 assists, and James had nine rebounds and seven assists.

The Lakers were way short on guards a few hours after they decided not to make any trades at the trade deadline. D’Angelo Russell didn’t play because his left knee hurt, so Max Christie started in his place and scored seven points before spraining his right ankle just before halftime. 
Denver had a 15-point lead in the middle of the third quarter, but Los Angeles tied it with 6:41 left on the clock thanks to Skylar Mays’ alley-oop dunk to Davis.

With 2:18 left, Reaves made a 3-pointer to tie the game again. But Murray hit a 3-pointer and an 11-foot shot on the Nuggets’ next two plays, and with 1:05 left, Porter made a 3-pointer to seal the deal. 
At the trade deadline, neither of these teams made any big moves. However, the Nuggets have more reason to be positive about their championship-winning core than the Lakers, who have been up and down.

Russell’s better play in recent weeks was a big reason why the Lakers didn’t trade his tradeable deal before the deadline. But the starting point guard couldn’t play because he had an unknown surgery on his sore left knee on Wednesday. 
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said he didn’t make a move because he didn’t find a deal good enough to risk upsetting the team’s promise and unity. Pelinka said that he could have traded only one first-round pick this month, but he will be able to trade three this summer in search of a third great.

Pelinka said, “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.” “The right move wasn’t there, and sometimes the maths is hard and complicated.” We didn’t want to fire a small bullet now that would only make things a little better at the cost of possibly making a much bigger and more important move in June and July. 
“We did everything we could, but the market is the market.” Not a single person sold anything.

Former Lakers swingman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope didn’t play against the Nuggets because his right leg was sore. As a starter, Justin Holiday had a bad night. He only scored two points in 22 minutes and fouled out early in the fourth quarter.