As the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets on Monday, they looked much more like their former selves with a renewed sense of focus and effort, particularly on the defensive end. As a result, they were able to scrape together just enough offense without LeBron James to not completely give away a 14-point lead that the Nuggets had whittled down to two points.
In addition to Lakers’ big Anthony Davis looking much more spry and showing signs of life, Lakers center Marc Gasol showed why he is such an asset to the team with a team-high +17 in plus-minus while going toe to toe with likely MVP Nikola Jokic.