Kyle Kuzma’s 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left lifted the Los Angeles Lakers to a 124-121 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night near Orlando.
LeBron James had 29 points and 12 assists for the Lakers (52-18), who snapped a three-game losing streak. Anthony Davis finished with 27 points and Kuzma contributed 25.
Reserve guard PJ Dozier had 18 points to lead the Nuggets, who had eight players reach double figures. Michael Porter Jr. had 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting including 3-of-3 on 3-pointers. Jamal Murray had 14 points, Paul Millsap scored 13 and Nikola Jokic chipped in 12 for Denver (46-25).
The loss dropped the Nuggets, who rested their starters for much of the fourth quarter, 1 1/2 games back of the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with two games remaining. The two teams meet Wednesday.
Two free throws by Davis cut Denver’s lead to 119-118 with 1:13 remaining. James’ three-point play put Los Angeles up 121-119 with 45.7 seconds left. Monte Morris, who had 14 points, made one of two foul shots to slice the margin to one with 31.3 seconds left.
After James missed a 3-pointer, Dozier canned one of two free throws to knot the score at 121 with 4.8 seconds remaining before Kuzma hit the game-winner.
An 11-2 run gave the Lakers an 87-80 advantage after a dunk by Kuzma with 2:08 left in the third. But the Nuggets rallied and outscored the Lakers 8-1 to tie the score at 88 heading into the fourth.
The Lakers led 64-59 lead at the break.
Both teams shot well, with the Nuggets hitting 58.4 percent of their shots to 54.3 percent for the Lakers.
Jerami Grant (knee), Will Barton (knee) and Gary Harris (hip) did not play for the Nuggets. The latter two have yet to play during the NBA restart.
The Lakers played without guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (ankle).
–Field Level Media
