March 13th, 2017

The Lakers shuffled their starting lineup on Monday against the Nuggets, but it didn’t matter.  Denver dominated LA 129-101, despite moving D’Angelo Russell to the bench and starting Jordan Clarkson in his place.

Will Barton and Jamal Murray scored 22 points apiece.  Danilo Gallinari and Nikola Jokic each added 18 points for the Nuggets, who now have a 2 game lead over Portland for the final playoff spot in the West with 15 games remaining.

Ivica Zubac was the lone bright spot for LA, scoring a career-high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds.  Jordan Clakrson had 19, and Brandon Ingram scored 14, as the Lakers lost for the 10th time in the last 11 games.

Russell scored 10 points and had 3 assist  on 4-14 shooting in 27 minutes.  However, Walton said the move was made more for evaluation purposes.  “D’Angelo has been playing great when you look at his numbers, but we’re 1-7 after the break and I want to see some other looks,” coach Luke Walton said before the game.

The Lakers trailed by as many as 32 points early on in the 3rd quarter.  They managed to cut the lead to 93-76 after 3 quarters, but couldn’t get much closer.  However, Denver went on an 11-0 run in the 4th to build a 28 point lead.

With 15 games left, the Lakers have the 2nd worst record in the league.  They’ll take on the Rockets on Wednesday in Houston.

“We’re gonna continue to look for opportunities to look at new things so we can gain as much information as possible going into the off-season,” Walton said.