Hours before the Los Angeles Lakers crushed the Denver Nuggets, 123-100, in a great confrontation of the West Conference on Saturday night, the Lakers chief coach, JJ Redick does not shout to anyone in particular .
Dončić delivered at the end of the second quarter when he made everyone near the unpleasant triple triple that he had just made about Christian Braun. It is possible that it has not been one of its most memorable “turned off” episodes, but Dončić was certainly the “murderer” on Saturday that Redick and all others have come to know over the years. In his best performance with the Lakers, Dončić went for 32 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four robberies.
“Finally I feel a bit like me,” Dončić said during his interview after the game. “Playing this game, this is what I love. Finally, being a little myself, that’s why I was smiling the whole game.”
Less than two minutes, Dončić found LeBron James for a dump, the first of four different connections between the two stars, and never looked back. He had more points in the first half (19) than he totaled in his first three games with a combined Lakers uniform.
After the Nuggets opened the third quarter with an 8-0 race to reduce the deficit to one, Dončić was ready with an answer. He scored or helped at nine points during a 15-2 race that reaffirmed the control of the Lakers on the game. Most of the remaining minutes passed in double figures before accumulating it at the end.
The victory, which ended the winning streak of nine Nugget games, was perhaps the ideal version of this new Lakers team. They were able to keep at least one of James or Dončić on the floor at all times to direct the show, and obtained great games from both. The exterior shots were falling (16 of 41 from a range of 3 points) and their role -players brought defensive energy.
“I think we still have many improvements,” Dončić said about learning to play with him NBAThe top scorer of all time. “This is my fourth game. So, chemistry takes time. We saw today that it is improving. So, every day it will improve.”
Things will not always work so well, but it is clear that the Lakers can play with anyone and should only improve in the coming weeks, since Dončić is again in the form of basketball after being lost almost two months and acclimatizes his new environment After success he ended his time in Dallas.
“Difficult. Different,” Dončić said when asked how the last weeks have been for him. “But you know, I’m happy to play basketball. So as I say, every day he will improve. For me, I’m happy to be here. Clearly, these guys are really incredible, so I’m happy for the new trip.”
With the victory, the Lakers improved 34-21, well for fourth place in the West classification after the defeat of the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. They have moved away from the game tournament and now have their eyes on maintaining the advantage of the domestic court in the first round. The advantage of third place nuggets over Lakers is due to two games.
