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.

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.

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

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.