After a poor performance from the line, the Lakers are looking for improvement against the Nuggets

Last season’s first round matchup will be rematched on Saturday when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Denver Nuggets.

The defending champions at the time, the Nuggets proved too much to handle and delivered a 4-1 series victory over the Lakers before being eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Los Angeles will do its best to look forward as looking back reveals a heartbreaking 119-118 home loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday. The Lakers tackled the Magic’s stout defense but couldn’t get past the free throw line going 3 of 9 in the fourth quarter.

Lakers star Anthony Davis was 1 of 4 from the free throw line in the final 27.1 seconds and LeBron James missed a foul shot with 39.1 seconds left. Austin Reaves missed a pair with 3:40 left.

Davis scored 39 points but his three misses on 13 attempts from the line proved huge. James scored 31 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Afterward, Lakers coach JJ Redick said he was looking in a “very dark place” before clarifying that he was headed to his basement to watch video of how it all went down.

“Every loss is frustrating,” Redick said. “There’s a certain loss that you can point to a lack of — I don’t want to call it a lack of effort — but a lack of desire and physical competition to start the game and have to fight. That.

The loss was the Lakers’ first at home in eight games and ended a six-game winning streak. Now comes the matchup against the Nuggets, who beat them just once in seven games in the regular season and the final playoff campaign.

Denver will be in the second night of back-to-back after a 123-120 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.

There was encouraging news for the return of Nikola Jokic, who missed the last three games after the birth of his child. Jokic marked the season with 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists for his fifth straight triple-double and seventh of the season.

“I heard a lot of guys were tired because Nikola was back and I was expecting Superman to carry the day,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “That’s not fair. Do your own work. Nikola showed again why he’s the best player in the world. He misses a whole week of basketball and then he goes out and gets a triple-double.”

The Nuggets have lost three of their last four games after dropping three of their first 10 games of the season. They will go into Friday’s game after losing three of their last four away games.

Against the Mavericks, Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. each scored 17 points in Denver, which lost 1-1 in the West: Group C game of the NBA Cup. The Nuggets’ loss allowed the Golden State Warriors to win the division.

Jokic has been strong again this season with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11.5 points. The three-time MVP is also shooting a spectacular 58.5 percent from 3-point range on 41 attempts.

Denver won the second of back-to-back nights on both occasions this season, most recently a 129-103 home victory over the Utah Jazz on November 2.

–Field Level Media