Denver Nuggets bringing healthier bunch to LA Lakers showdown

LOS ANGELES – While both the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers won their most recent National Basketball Association (NBA) games with impact players missing, only one team are expected to have their stars back when the sides meet in Los Angeles on March 19 (March 20, Singapore time).

The Lakers still are without LeBron James (groin) and Rui Hachimura (knee),but the Nuggets are likely to have Nikola Jokic (ankle, elbow) and Jamal Murray (ankle) on the court.

Both Denver stars sat out on March 17 against the Golden State Warriors, as did Christian Braun (foot),but the Nuggets still pulled off a 114-105 road victory over one of the NBA’s hottest teams.

While the debate rages on whether they should have rested so much firepower for a nationally televised game, Nuggets coach Michael Malone found a lot to like about the performance.

“You don’t have the three-time MVP (Jokic),who’s (scoring) 30 points a night. You don’t have Jamal Murray, who’s 20 points a night. You don’t have (Braun),who’s the No. 1 transition player in the league,” he said.

“Well, that means we’ve got to play hard, we’ve got to play desperate, we’ve got to play urgent, and we did that for 48 minutes. Our guys left it all on the court.”

He will be looking for more of the same against the Lakers.

The Nuggets (44-25) share second place in the Western Conference with the Houston Rockets, but have just a one-game lead on Los Angeles (42-25). Despite their win over the Warriors, Denver have wobbled of late – going 3-3 since March 9 – while earning a 131-126 home victory over the Lakers on March 14.

The Lakers not only were without James and Hachimura at Denver last week, as Luka Doncic (calf and