Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers nearly took down the Denver Nuggets on Friday as the rookie played a career high in minutes – although he could’ve played even more
Bronny James held his own as he played the most minutes of his young NBA career (
Image: Getty Images)
An undermanned Los Angeles Lakers (40-25) squad, sparked by an energized Bronny James off the bench, managed to miraculously hang with the Denver Nuggets (43-24) on Friday.
Without LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and five other rotation players – including regular starters Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes – the -14.5 underdog Lakers fell only 131-126 after a Jamal Murray dagger three in a topsy-turvy affair. A Dalton Knecht dunk with 52 seconds left gave Los Angeles a three-point lead they would squander after an 8-0 Denver run.
Head coach J.J. Reddick revealed pregame that Bronny – recently called up from the G-League due to his strong play and Los Angeles’ depleted depth chart – wasn’t at full strength.
“I think he’s feeling a little under the weather and the altitude [in Denver] is significant,” the Lakers rookie coach revealed before the game, suggesting that Bronny could’ve played even more minutes on Friday. “I think we’re going to monitor him just in terms of his fatigue, maybe play him in shorter bursts. Frankly, that might be a good thing for him just to go all out.”
In a career-high 16 minutes, Bronny scored five points and added a pair of rebounds as he finished with a +8 on/off split – the third-best on the Lakers. Bronny’s big moment of the night came in the first quarter, when he sunk a 3-pointer over Nikola Jokic’s head.
In 16 G-League games (both the league’s regular and tip-off tournament), the 55th pick in the 2024 draft is scoring 17..4 points on 40.6 percent shooting to go along with 4.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.5 steals in 30.6 minutes a night. Bronny’s NBA numbers have not been as strong. Ahead of Friday’s contest, the 20-year-old was averaging just 1.4 points a game on 25.8 percent shooting.
Injured LeBron James missed Friday’s game ( Getty)
The rest of the Lakers rotation on Friday was what NBA TV analyst Steve Smith called “a MASH unit.” The starting lineup consisted of Jarred Vanderbilt, Alex Len, Austin Reaves, Jordan Goodwin, and Knecht. Besides Bronny, Reddick went with Markieff Morris, Cam Reddick Christian Koloko, and Shake Milton off the bench.
Reaves and Knecht filled the scoring void left by Doncic and James, scoring 37 and 32 points – a career-high for Knecht. Denver, playing at full-strength with star Jokic in MVP form, needed the win. At 43-24, the Nuggets climbed a game-and-a-half ahead of Los Angeles to solidify their stranglehold on the Western Conference’s two seed.
Jokic was one of three Nuggets to score more than 20 points, scoring 28 to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. The Lakers will look to bounce back with the potentially returning Doncic on Sunday in Phoenix against the Suns (20-26). The Nuggets will host the hapless Washington Wizards (14-51) on Saturday.
