Lakers vs. Nuggets score, takeaways: Nikola Jokic’s triple-double leads Denver past LeBron, L.A. in opener

We may be starting a new NBA season, but the first game we’ve seen of it looks suspiciously like what we saw last year. The Denver Nuggets swept the Los Angeles Lakers out of the 2023 Western Conference finals, and on the opening night of the 2023-24 season, they took care of their purple and gold rivals once again by a final score of 119-107. Leading the way as you’d expect was two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who picked up his first triple-double of the young season with 29 points, 11 assists and 13 rebounds.

It was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act for the Lakers on several fronts in defeat. Star big man Anthony Davis gave the Lakers 17 points in the first half but was blanked in the second. The Lakers won the minutes LeBron James spent on the floor by seven points, but lost the minutes he rested by 19. The supporting cast they spent last season revamping was largely quiet, though new addition Taurean Prince impressed with 18 points and four 3-pointers.

It’s not going to get any easier for the Lakers, as they have a date with the loaded Phoenix Suns looming on Thursday. The Nuggets, meanwhile, will travel to Memphis on Friday to take on the Grizzlies. We’re only one game into this new season, but the Lakers are already playing catch up against the defending champs. Here are the three biggest takeaways from this opening night clash.

1. Who wants to help LeBron?

The Lakers needed the 8-5 stretch they went on while James sat out injured late last season. It got them into the play-in round, yes, but it also proved that this team could survive without its best player. In his first five seasons in Los Angeles, the Lakers were outscored by 674 total points without James on the floor. Whether they had a healthy Anthony Davis or not, prior to that stretch, the Lakers almost always folded without James. When that finally flipped last season, it seemed as though this team was ready to endure the inevitable decline James’ age would bring.

Well, James only played 29 minutes on opening night. As we covered, the Lakers won those minutes but still lost the game by double-digits because of how little the bench could do without him. Davis went scoreless in the second half. Their three top guards combined to shoot 11-of-31 from the floor. The newly minted $51 million man, Rui Hachimura, was 3-of-10 and didn’t make a 3-pointer. Only newcomer Taurean Prince scored consistently next to James on Tuesday, and he did so largely in a catch-and-shoot capacity.

Poor shooting games happen, but the quality of shots the Lakers were generating when anyone other than James initiated the offense is a genuine concern. James isn’t going to play 40 minutes 82 times this season. The theory of this roster was built on other players lifting the offense in the regular season so that James could stay fresh for the playoffs. That didn’t happen on opening night.

2. Denver’s depth survives its first test

Speaking of teams that have had depth issues in recent years, Denver got outscored by 367 points last season alone when Jokic sat out. Their inability to survive the absence of their star has been even more glaring than the Lakers’. The losses of key reserves Bruce Brown and Jeff Green were supposed to exacerbate that issue this season, but Denver’s bench held up its end of the bargain on Tuesday.

Denver lost the non-Jokic minutes by three points, but three of the four reserves that got extended minutes had positive point differentials. Most importantly, Denver won the minutes Reggie Jackson played by 11 points. While Christian Braun is Denver’s best reserve, Jackson, by virtue of the shot-creating responsibilities he’s inheriting from Brown, is its most important. After struggling to even get on the floor in the playoffs, Jackson looked a bit more like the former starter he was in Detroit in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The Nuggets have won plenty of basketball games with a bad bench in recent years. The bar is pretty low here. All the Nuggets ask of their reserves is to not lose games singlehandedly. They survived against the Lakers, and while they’ll never be a strength in Denver, Michael Malone doesn’t have the talent on his bench to ask for much more.

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3. There’s still no answer for Jokic

When the Lakers tried to let Anthony Davis defend Nikola Jokic one-on-one in the first half, he racked up 19 points and started the game shooting 8-of-10 shooting. The Lakers mixed up their coverages in the second half and more frequently sent help and doubles. No problem. Jokic picked up nine of his 11 assists in the final 24 minutes.

In theory, there isn’t a team better suited to defending Jokic in the NBA than the Lakers. Davis is arguably the NBA’s best defender. They have enough bulky forwards to run as much of the gimmicky “defend Jokic with the 4 and let the 5 serve as a helper” scheme they frequently employed in the Western Conference finals. They even added a legitimate backup center in Jaxson Hayes over the summer, something they didn’t have in the postseason.

It didn’t matter because nothing matters against Jokic. Nobody in the league can defend him alone. Once you start doubling him he kills you as a passer. Any notion of scheming against the best player in the world has now flown out the window. You just have to hope you can outscore him.