Lakers at Nuggets
Kobe Bryant was unable to get his offensive game going all that much in his return from a rest period Sunday. He hopes to provide more of a boost to the last-place Los Angeles Lakers when they visit Denver on Tuesday for the final game of the calendar year for both teams. After sitting out three games to try to get over some aches and pains, Bryant provided 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a 116-107 loss to Phoenix at home.
That marked the third-lowest scoring output of the season for Bryant behind a pair of nine-point efforts, one of which came a game before head coach Byron Scott chose to give his 36-year-old superstar some time off. Denver has split two contests to begin a three-game homestand, limping to the finish line in a 116-102 loss to Toronto on Sunday. The Nuggets scored 15 points in the final quarter in seeing their three-game home winning streak snapped.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (9-22): Bryant hinted after attempting just 10 shots in the loss to the Suns that he is trying to be more patient and not force as many attempts. His assist average has bumped from 4.7 to 5.5 from November to December, an indication of his mindset to pass first more often. However, while logic would suggest that the shots he does take are more makeable, his shooting percentage has dropped from 39 percent to just 33.8, with 12 straight games below 50 percent overall.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (13-18): Denver has topped the Lakers seven straight times, the latest a 101-94 overtime victory at Los Angeles on Nov. 23. Forward Kenneth Faried finished that one with just eight points and a season low-tying one rebound in 19 minutes as he was undergoing an up-and-down stretch. Faried has recently begun to look like the player the Nuggets hoped to see when they reworked a four-year, $50 million-plus extension in the fall, averaging 21 points and 19.3 rebounds over a dominant three-game stretch.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets SG Arron Afflalo is 3-for-25 from beyond the arc over a six-game slump.
2. Los Angeles entered Monday ranked 23rd in the league in field-goal percentage (43.6) while Denver was 27th (43).
3. Bryant has averaged 5.4 assists in 61 career games vs. Denver, higher than any other Western Conference opponent.