The Los Angeles Lakers rely heavily on their guards on offense in their past several games, but both Jeremy Lin and Jordan Clarkson failed to live up to expectations as they took a 106-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday at Staples Center in LA.
Lin finished with just seven points and four assists in 21 minutes, while Clarkson tallied seven markers and seven dimes for the Lakers, who absorbed their 39th loss of the season against just 13 victories.
Both Lin and Clarkson struggled to keep in step with Nuggets starting point guard Ty Lawson, who scored 32 points on 12-for-20 shooting from the field and dished out 16 assists.
Lawson, who is averaging 16.6 points to go along with 9.9 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game this season, also torched the Lakers in the final two minutes of the game. The 27-year-old point guard had a hand in their last 11 points, scoring nine points and dishing out an assist to Darrell Arthur to pull away down the stretch.
Arthur also had a big night for Denver as he finished with 15 points to go along with five rebounds and two blocks, while Wilson Chandler and J.J. Hickson added 13 points apiece. Randy Foye added 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting in 25 minutes of playing time off the bench for the Nuggets, who improved to 20-33 this season.
On the other hand, veteran power forward Carlos Boozer led the Lakers with 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds and four assists, while Wayne Ellington posted 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field. Wesley Johnson and Nick Young added 12 points apiece.
With the loss, the Lakers dropped to 13-39 and are now just two games ahead of the 15th-placed Minnesota Timberwolves (11-41) at the cellar of the Western Conference standings.
Highlights of the Lakers-Nuggets match are available on this link from NBA.com.
The Lakers will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they collide with the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center before taking their All-Star break. The Nuggets, on the other hand, will not see action until their game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 20 at BMO Harris Bradley Center.
In other games of the day, the Detroit Pistons crushed the Charlotte Hornets, 106-79, while the Houston Rockets defeated the Phoenix Suns, 127-118. The Chicago Bulls scored a 104-86 win over the Sacramento Kings, while the Memphis Grizzlies cruised to a 95-86 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
