Denver struggled against a depleted Lakers team, and coach Michael Malone has to walk a fine line between urgency and rest.

Hometown kid Dalton Knecht helped out the Lakers with 32 points in a starting role. The Nuggets couldn’t defend, but they found enough buckets in the end.

Jamal Murray sank a 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left and Russell Westbrook stole the inbounds pass for a exclamation-point dunk as the Denver Nuggets rebuffed the scrappy, short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 131-126 Friday night.

The Lakers have now fallen to fifth in the Western Conference standings after losing to the Nuggets. Yet, the loss wasn't all bad for them. This game allowed Bronny James to get some real playing time. He played 16 minutes in this game, which is the most playing time he has seen in Los Angeles.

Many expected the Lakers to get blown off the court but Los Angeles actually made it a game. The final score came in at 131-126, with Denver just inching out a win at home. While the Lakers did lose,

SportsLine's model simulated the Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers 10,000 times and revealed its NBA picks for Friday

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The Los Angeles Lakers (40-24) and Denver Nuggets (42-24) are all set to square off from Ball Arena in Denver. The Lakers had a challenging game last night against the Milwaukee Bucks. They were down big for much of the game and couldn’t generate offense outside of Luca Doncic.

LeBron James will not play in the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Denver Nuggets due to a leg injury. The Lakers face more challenges as Maxi Kleber and Rui Hachimura are also out. Key players like Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic need to step up.