These games happen in the NBA. There was no LeBron James or Luka Doncic for the Lakers, but with the chance to shine, other guys stepped up — Austin Reaves scored 37, Dalton Knecht had 32 with five 3-pointers, and Los Angeles just played hard. Meanwhile, Denver played like they expected the Lakers to roll over.

Jamal Murray sank a 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left and Russell Westbrook stole the inbounds pass for a exclamation-point dunk as the Denver Nuggets rebuffed the scrappy, short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 131-126 Friday night.

Denver struggled against a depleted Lakers team, and coach Michael Malone has to walk a fine line between urgency and rest.

Luka Doncic didn't play in the Lakers' 131-126 loss at Denver Friday night, joining LeBron James on the team's lengthy list of unavailable players

Los Angeles Lakers star point guard Luka Doncic will sit out Friday's road game against the Denver Nuggets with a sprained right ankle and his lingering left calf ailment.

An NBA insider weighed in on the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, claiming the Dallas Mavericks made the right call by parting ways with the Slovenian superstar. The trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis remains one of the most surprising and monumental moves in NBA history.