LeBron James led all scorers with 26 points, Anthony Davis had a double-double with 23 points and 15 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers recorded their first win of the season with a 121-110 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers celebrated Darvin Ham’s first win as an NBA head coach in the locker room after the game.
After starting the season 0-5, the Lakers got contributions across the board as they went on to outscore the Nuggets 41-22 in bench points.
“Our fans were awesome tonight … I really wanted to give them something to be loud and proud about. Hopefully we can string a few of these together and just keep growing and learning,” said Ham.
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Russell Westbrook had 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists while serving as the catalyst for the second unit in a new sixth-man role.
“It’s tailor-made for our group as it’s built for him to be in that mode,” Ham said on Westbrook playing off the bench for a second consecutive game.
“Like I’ve mentioned since Day One, whatever is needed from me to help the team win, that’s what I’ll do,” Westbrook said.
Lonnie Walker IV also added 18 for the Lakers while Austin Reaves had 10 off the bench.
Davis scored the first 9 of 11 points for the Lakers but were outscored 31-26 by the Nuggets to end the first period.
Nikola Jockic had 23 points, 14 rebounds and six assists and Jamal Murray recorded a season-high 21 for the Nuggets (4-3). Michael Porter Jr. added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Los Angeles held Denver to 42.7 percent from the floor, while shooting 47.9 percent themselves, and a season-best 43.3 percent from three-point range.
“We needed this [win] for our team, our spirits, our fans, our organization,” said Davis, who also added two assists, one block and one steal in the win.
“I want him to be the AD we all know he can be. He showed it tonight. Tenaciousness on defense, timely shot making, (determination),” Ham said.
The Lakers led 55-51 at halftime.
Denver responded in the third by going 8 for 12 from three-point range and built their lead up to as many as eight, 83-75 after a Bruce Brown three with 3:45 left in the period.
Los Angeles went on to close the end of the third on a 18-2 run, capped by a Reaves and-1 layup that gave the Lakers a 93-85 lead heading into the fourth.
Reaves converted his second three-pointer of the night from the top of the arc and Walker IV added a baseline dunk to give the Lakers its largest lead of the season at 113-100 with just under five minutes to play to lift LA to its first victory of the season.
“We needed to prove something to ourselves,” Ham said. “Not to the world, not the media. We had to prove it to ourselves. I feel great about how we responded throughout the game.”
The Lakers will continue its four-game homestand and host the New Orleans Pelicans (4-2) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
