LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates his basket with Dennis Schroder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope #1 next to Monte Morris of the Denver Nuggets during a 114-93 Lakers win at Staples Center on February 04, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Copyright 2021 NBAE. Harry How/Getty Images/AFP
LeBron James had a triple double of 27 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a double digit halftime deficit to pull away in the second half for a 114-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
James recorded his second triple double of the season and 96th of his career as the Lakers opened their five-game homestand with an impressive come-from-behind win.
🤯 WHAT A DIME 🤯
LeBron notches his 2nd triple-double of the season with this assist! pic.twitter.com/6oaiVUWOV2
— NBA (@NBA) February 5, 2021
Dennis Schroder scored 21 points, Talen Horton-Tucker had 17 for the defending NBA champions who improved to 17-6 on the season.
Anthony Davis said the Lakers had to make some adjustments at halftime, especially with their defense.
“We were not getting any stops. We knew we could score at will but we needed to get some stops. Guys talked in locker room and we were able to come out in that third quarter and hold them to 13 points,” said Davis.
With his third basket in the third quarter, James surpassed Wilt Chamberlain (12,681) for number three on career field goals made list.
King James breaks another milestone 👑 pic.twitter.com/FJW0p2NFgs
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 5, 2021
Canadian Jamal Murray scored 20 points and Monte Morris added 16 for the Nuggets, who suffered their second loss in eight games.
Nikola Jokic, who was coming off a 47-point performance in his previous game, struggled to just 13 points and 10 rebounds.
This was the first meeting between the teams since the Lakers captured the conference finals 4-1 over the Nuggets last season.
The Nuggets looked out of sorts coming off a surprise four day break after Monday’s contest at home against the Detroit Pistons was postponed because Detroit did not have the required eight players available due to Covid-19 protocols.