The Denver Nuggets were back in action after taking some time off after their back-to-back wins. They were playing the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles and it was a game to look see. As Lebron James was coming into this game 9 points away from reaching 40,000 points, and by doing this he would become the only one to join that club in the entire NBA’s history. The game started off just like any normal game as it had a couple of lead changes and flashy plays, but when we got to Lebron’s first points scored it was 16-12 Lakers with 6:20 left in the quarter. A minute later it was 20-14 Lakers, and Lebron created space in the left corner when he nailed a three pointer. With those 5 points, Lebron was only 4 more points away from hitting 40,000. However, fans would have to wait until the second quarter for him to reach that milestone as Lebron had no further points in that quarter as it finished 33-27 Lakers. But, the fans wouldn’t have to wait too long as 12 seconds into the quarter Dangelo Russell passed the ball to James in the paint and he made another lay-up, plus the and 1; however, Lebron missed the free-throw making him only a possession away from adding another accomplishment to his repertoire. Then at 10:42 Lebron made a spin move around Michael Porter Jr. and finished it with a nice lay-up. With the lay-up, Lebron reached 40,000 points scored in the NBA, being the first person in history to do so.

The home fans applauded him and then the Nuggets shortly called a timeout a few possessions later as they were down 40-32. Both teams shot the ball well and kept making shots but the lead for the closest the Nuggets could get within was 5 when it was 52-47. The Lakers expanded the lead with a couple of nice buckets as the half-finished 66-58 Lakers.

The few notable performances who stood out were Michael Porter Jr for the Nuggets who had 100 % field goal percentage all game long, and Rui Hachimura who had 15. The Nuggets then came out in the 3rd quarter ready as they put up 31 points compared to The Lakers 23 and just like that it was tied 89-89 going into the 4th quarter. The 4th quarter went back and forth for the longest time until a big run by the Nuggets put them ahead by a big enough difference to secure them the win. As ultimately went on to score their highest points of the night in the 4th quarter, as they got 35 points compared to Las Angles’s 25. Making the final score of the competition was 124-114 Nuggets. As players like Michael Porter Junior, Jokic Jamal Murray and of course, Aaron Gordan helped ensure the Nuggets their 6th win in a row. As MPJ had 25 points and 10 rebounds, The Joker with 35 points,10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Jamal Murray who everyone thought was going to be out with an injury, played through it and got 24 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists, and of course AG with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. The starters for The Nuggets definitely edged them the result as they improve to a record of 42-19, and 18-14 on the road. Now, the Nuggets are only 0.5 back from the # 1 seed the Minnesota Timberwolves, and they are tied for second with The OKC Thunder and they look to continue to grow and get better as they play the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

However, if you are a Western Conference basketball fan and want to watch that game Tuesday there were a few negatives in the Nuggets performance tonight that could affect them on Tuesday. As for The Lakers on Saturday, there were some key players who were easily creating flashy dunks and plays to make Denver’s defense look disorganized. Those key players for The Lakers were Lebron James, Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis. LBJ was good all game as he didn’t just stop at hitting the 40,000 mark, he had a momentous game on top of it as he had 26 points, 4 rebounds, and 9 assists. Rui absolutely torched the Nuggets with 9 points in the first quarter and carried it on to finish with 23 points. AR15 and AD both had double-double performances and together these players looked exceptional in the 1st half as it looked like the Lakers were the better team by a mile, and could probably go on to win this game. However, that wasn’t the case as Denver is relatively known as a second-half team anyway, and when Michael Malone is not happy with a performance or a call he lets everyone know and he was definitely giving an earful to everyone in the locker room. The convo they had then definitely worked as without the runs in the 3rd, the game wouldn’t have been tied and going into the 4th, and it wouldn’t have had such that back-and-forth action it had for the first few minutes.

Overall, despite this game being chippy it had quality performances by the superstars on both teams and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a future first-round playoff match.