The Los Angeles Lakers pulled out an impressive road win on Saturday night, besting the Denver Nuggets 123–100 to tighten the race for third place in the Western Conference. The victory offered plenty of promise for the new-look Lakers,

The Lakers held Jokic, who entered the weekend leading the NBA in frontcourt touches with 56.6 touches, to 43 frontcourt touches on Saturday. He possessed the ball nearly a third less of the time on Saturday (3.1 minutes) than he did entering the matchup (4.5 minutes) and held the ball for shorter periods of time when he did have it.

Winners of 13 of their last 14 against the Lakers and eight consecutive head-to-head matchups at home, the Nuggets (37-20) were taken out of their comfort zone by a new-look Los Angeles roster. Anthony Davis was the player cashed in for Doncic, but somehow it was the Lakers’ defense that affected the hosts most. Denver shot 40% from the floor.