Peyton Watson has been a crucial piece of the Denver Nuggets considering all of the injuries they've suffered this season. 

He's started more games than every before, 32 of the 42 he's played this season, and he's averaging 14 points, five rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1 steal and 1 block per game in the process. 

Nuggets head coach David Adelman also said after the Nuggets' 115-107 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night that Watson's heavy usage is going to continue for a while longer, even thought the Nuggets are closer to full strength than they've been in a long time. 

Watson had the difficult task of guarding Luka Dončić on Tuesday, who finished with a 38 point triple-double. It's not the kind of result that indicates a successful guarding night for Watson but Adelman said that, like the rest of the team, Watson began the game doing great and fizzled out in the second half.  

"Peyton reminded me of the rest of the team. I thought the energy was incredible in the first half.  Second half, it just felt like we wore down," Adelman said (via Nuggets). "You have to guard Luka, you got ball-handling responsibilities, weak-side help responsibilities when you’re not guarding him."

Adelman continued, "So, his effort was great again, 38 minutes. He’s been playing incredibly heavy minutes right now. That’s going to continue in the short term. So yeah, Peyton’s been giving everything he has and that’s all I can ask for."

Watson's 38 minutes was the most out of anyone on the team, a strong indication of Adelman's trust in his abilities to have him as the exclusive man on Dončić. That kind of usage does come with a cost in terms of endurance, which could explain the way that Watson slowed down in the second half as well as the that Dončić took off. 

As Adelman indicated, that was the case for the rest of the team as well. A dominant 71 point first half gave way to just 34 points in the second half as the Lakers stepped up their intensity and relentlessly double-teamed Jamal Murray, who scored 28 points in the game. 

The added pressure the Lakers put on clearly worked and allowed them to come away with the game. 

For the Nuggets, it was their second loss in a row. They've done better than anyone could have expected with Nikola Jokic out, but it doesn't mean they're infallible. 

Following this loss, the Nuggets embark on a three game road trip, starting with the Washington Wizards on Thursday.