Nuggets at Lakers
LeBron James finally has celebrated a victory as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, and he looks to lead his new team to another when the club hosts the unbeaten Denver Nuggets on Thursday. The Lakers lost the first three games of the James Era before rolling to a 131-113 win in Phoenix on Wednesday.
The Lakers allowed a whopping average of 131.7 points while losing their first three contests and James was happy to see the team's work pay off with a victory. "It feels great to win, period," James said during his postgame media session. "But it feels good to know that what we've been doing in training camp and the first few games helped us continue to get better, and we want to continue that moving forward." Denver is looking for its first 5-0 start since the 2009-10 campaign, when Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups were its star players. The Nuggets held each of their first three opponents below 100 points before the defense wasn't as tight in Tuesday's 126-112 win over Sacramento.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (4-0): Denver is trying to get veteran power forward Paul Millsap clicking, and he recorded 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting against the Kings to raise his average to 11.3. The four-time All-Star missed 6-of-7 shots in two of his first three games, but finding his shooting stroke would prevent opponents from collapsing on star center Nikola Jokic (23.3 points, 10.5 rebounds)."It’s good to see Paul Millsap kind of get going," coach Michael Malone told reporters. "He went at his matchup. He scored. If he can get into an offensive rhythm and find some confidence, it’s going to help us out a lot."
ABOUT THE LAKERS (1-3): Swingman Lance Stephenson failed to reach double digits in any of the first three games but broke out against the Suns with 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. "I want to win, that's what got me going," Stephenson said in a postgame television interview. "My job is to play aggressive defense and play unselfish. And get the win." Center JaVale McGee also gave the team a big effort as he scored in double figures for the fourth straight game, recording 20 points while also blocking four shots.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Lakers have won three straight home games against the Nuggets.
2. Los Angeles PG Rajon Rondo will serve the final contest of his three-game suspension and SF Brandon Ingram will sit out the third of his four-game ban for their actions in Saturday's contest against Houston.
3. Denver SG Gary Harris, who is averaging 21 points, is 19-for-32 from the field over his last two games.