Lakers drop fourth straight; Nuggets break losing streak

If doubt still remains regarding Shaq's importance to the Lakers...

Nuggets 113, Lakers 91

Not to take anything away from the Nuggets, who scored a confidence boosting win and had three players score 20 or more points (and two more in double figures with 16 apiece), but the Lakers are severely weakened in the frontcourt with Shaq sitting this one out and Malone on the injured list.

Denver moves up to sixth in the West, which doesn't mean much right now, but the higher they can remain above the the 8th seed, the better. The Lakers drop to fourth, but Shaq and Malone won't be out all season; they should be at least top three come playoff time.

Other notes:

The Nuggets out-rebounded the Lakers 60-37, including a 17-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
Kobe Bryant wasn't given a warm reception.
Kobe's 6 steals equals his career high

Denver's player were on fire: Carmelo, Dre Miller, Squirrel Boykins, Lenard, all of them scored at least 18 and shot like 45%, each... That's hard to stop any team when they play like that. Plus, Nenê had like 16 pts and 7 boards, and Camby pulled down 10 boards, again. That all adds up to the Lakers' mess... Did you notice Payton's assist? Yeah, he had only one. Saw the highlights on Sportscenter and the spanish guys were cracking all over.

for the Lakers

Year after year, it's proven that the Lakers are on the "Diesel's Ship"

Last year, they were horrible without Shaq and this year, they are horrible without Shaq.

Spank my ass and call me Charlie... Payton had two assists.

i watch this game on TV...and i must say Melo is playing very very spectular tonight...also Chris Anderson is a great hustle..better than Najera though...and i'm surprised to see how Denver is playing together this year...

This is just a proof that kobe can't do it alone. If i were him i would stick with the lakers and shaq and take mcgrady as an example to see what type of burden he's gonna experience if he opts out of his contract.

This is just pathetic! These are the Los Angeles Lakers for goodness sakes... We're playing college/varsity level basketball at the NBA... not good.

They're a depleted Laker team right now though, playing without their biggest advantage.

This is just pathetic! These are the Los Angeles Lakers for goodness sakes... We're playing college/varsity level basketball at the NBA... not good.

Yes you're playing college level . Why dont you just bandwagon another team?

This is just pathetic! These are the Los Angeles Lakers for goodness sakes... We're playing college/varsity level basketball at the NBA... not good.

Yes you're playing college level . Why dont you just bandwagon another team?

WHAT?

Whats the big deal
People remember the Nuggets are a good team, a winning team now

yer the lakers lost, but as most people know i like the Nuggs.
a bad game to see and on the other hand a good one.

the denver bandwagon grows by the hour. hop on while there are still some available spots... i remember in the offseason starting a thread about the denver nuggets http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~nbalive/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6111&highlight=denver+nuggets
only andrew made a reply but now the nuggets are one of the talks of the town in this forum

the denver bandwagon grows by the hour. hop on while there are still some available spots... i remember in the offseason starting a thread about the denver nuggets http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~nbalive/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6111&highlight=denver+nuggets
only andrew made a reply but now the nuggets are one of the talks of the town in this forum

The Nuggets have always been my favourite team after the Raptors, but I didn't expect this kind of success this season.