“Snatched the soul right out of them” — Lakers fans react to cathartic Nuggets win
The Lakers picked up a wire-to-wire win over the Nuggets on Wednesday, extending their win streak to three games.
Considering how much they’ve tortured the Lakers in recent seasons, Wednesday’s “blowout” win over the Nuggets does not ring any more hollow despite it coming with Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray watching from the bench.
The final score was incredibly generous to the Nuggets, who were the far inferior team for two-and-a-half of the opening three quarters. A mixture of fatigue and a lineup largely of bench players in the fourth allowed Denver to make the score respectable.
Led by Luka Dončić’s incredible first quarter, the Lakers started fast, lost some momentum heading into the half and then blew the game open again the third period.
During it all, Lakers fans reacted — and celebrated — together in our live game thread. Here’s the reactions as things unfolded.
First quarter: “This is getting ridiculous Luka”
While it’s still very early on in his time in Los Angeles and we haven’t seen many, there are few things better than a Luka heater. On Monday, fans got one of his finest yet in purple and gold.
Luka couldn’t miss in the first period, scoring 21 points and immediately putting the Lakers in the driver seat on the night in the wire-to-wire win.
Second quarter: “I’d be furious if I was JJ”
Initially, the fun of the first quarter carried over into the second as the lead grew. However, some complacency crept in and the Lakers allowed the Nuggets to make a run to close the second period and trail by just 14 points heading into the break.
Third quarter: “AR’s taking over this quarter”
The Lakers immediately returned to seriousness in the third quarter. The quarter, though, was dominated by Austin Reaves, who put his imprint on this victory. Luka still get his licks in as the Lakers just blew the lead up to nearly 30 points.
Fourth quarter: “DFS is definitely one to keep”
The Lakers had their starters out there for a bit to open the fourth, allowing the margin to stay fairly comfortable. However, with an eye on Thursday’s back-to-back, the team’s sixth game in eight nights, Redick pulled the starters.
Then, things got hairy. Eventually, the Nuggets ran out of time to complete their comeback, but that felt like the biggest determining factor in the Lakers holding on late.