The Los Angeles Lakers saw their three-game winning streak come to an end after falling to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, 120-113. Here is what led to their downfall: 

There is a reason why the Denver Nuggets were able to win an NBA Championship with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray leading them, and because the duo becomes an offensive juggernaut on a basketball court. On Thursday, the Lakers did not have an answer for either of them. 

Murray and Jokic each scored 28 points in the win, and the latter once again had a triple-double. Murray did a lot of his damage from the perimeter as he went 5-9 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Jokic went 10-15 from the field and hit all eight of his free throws. 

The Lakers were able to significantly outscore the Nuggets in paint points (54-42) and fast break points (22-11), but the amount of help Murray and Jokic received from their teammates was too much to overcome. 

The Nuggets had three other players notch double figures: Julian Strawther had 18 points on 60% shooting; Christian Braun had 15 points on 50% shooting and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 14 points on 57.1% shooting. It was not enough that Los Angeles had to deal with Jokic and Murray, but Denver’s supporting cast as well. 

Luka Doncic scored 27 points of his own to nearly match the efforts of Jokic and Murray, but his outing was not as efficient. Doncic converted 11 of his 24 shot attempts and hit only three of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc.  

Meanwhile, other players who touched the floor for Los Angeles were scoring efficiently. Beyond Doncic, four other Lakers scored at least 16 points while shooting over 50% from the field. LeBron James was one of the players to have 16 points, and he shot 63.6% from the field en route to achieving the most made field goals in NBA regular season history. However, he only took 11 shots in over 33 minutes of play time.  

Austin Reaves played nearly 40 minutes and, like James, added 16 points. His effort was also efficient as he hit 54.5% of his shots, but he had an identical number of attempts. Rui Hachimura was the third Laker with a 16-point night, and he accomplished it by hitting 66.7% of his shots, but he only took nine attempts. Finally, Jaxson Hayes led the aforementioned group with 19 points while going 8-10 from the field. 

There is enough evidence to suggest that, given the efficient nature of several others that he shared the floor with, more facilitation from Doncic may have been more beneficial for the team. He still finished with seven assists, but additional dimes could have helped close the deficit.  

The Lakers will begin a five-game home stand and conclude their back-to-back by hosting the Indiana Pacers on Friday.