Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets
Friday, March 14, 2025 at 9:30 PM ET
Ball Arena, Denver, CO | Game ID: 22400965
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DEN 32 39 31 29 131LAL 40 27 32 27 126
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Jamal Murray's clutch 3-pointer helps Nuggets hold off short-handed Lakers 131-126
DENVER -- — 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 on Friday night.
Murray finished with 26 points and while the win was something to celebrate, there were enough red flags for coach Michael Malone to crumple up the stat sheet as he sat down for his postgame news conference.
Austin Reaves scored 37 points and Dalton Knecht added 32 for the Lakers, whose lengthy list of injured players included LeBron James and Luka Doncic , who was ruled out on the second night of back-to-back games because of left calf injury management and a right ankle sprain.
James missed his third straight game with a left groin strain and returned to Los Angeles along with Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) and Jaxson Hayes (bruised right knee) ahead of the Lakers’ game in Denver. Also, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent sat out to rest left ankle injuries.
James’ son, Bronny, scored five points after being recalled from the G League.
The Lakers lost their fourth straight despite a furious second-half rally that saw them take a 126-123 lead with 52 seconds remaining.
Nikola Jokic , who scored 28, tied it with a three-point play and Reaves misfired from 15 feet before Murray buried the 3 thanks to a screen from Jokic that blocked two defenders.
Takeaways Lakers: Despite feeling under the weather, Bronny James played 16 minutes.
Nuggets: Denver's inability to pull away from a short-handed bunch could be cause for concern for a team jockeying for playoff position.
Key moment The Lakers were about to get blown out but used a 19-9 run to close the third quarter and cut a 13-point deficit to 102-99.
Key stat The Nuggets were 21 of 25 from the free throw line before halftime. The Lakers only shot seven free throws in the first half and made six.
Up next The Lakers host Phoenix on Sunday. The Nuggets host Washington on Saturday night, their fifth game in seven days.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAL A. Len
AR A. Reaves
BJ B. James
CK C. Koloko
CR C. Reddish
DK D. Knecht
JG J. Goodwin
JV J. Vanderbilt
MM M. Morris
SM S. Milton
DENAG A. Gordon
CB C. Braun
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
MP M. Porter Jr.
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
RW R. Westbrook
ZN Z. Nnaji
LAL/DEN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur