Hometown kid Dalton Knecht helped out the Lakers with 32 points in a starting role. The Nuggets couldn’t defend, but they found enough buckets in the end.

Jamal Murray sank a 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left and Russell Westbrook stole the inbounds pass for a exclamation-point dunk as the Denver Nuggets rebuffed the scrappy, short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 131-126 on Friday night.

Center Nikola Jokic and guard Jamal Murray are both on the injury report entering the game. Both players have been listed as probable for this game and will play against Los Angeles.

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Luka Doncic sat out the Los Angeles Lakers' 131-126 loss at Denver on Friday night, cheering on his scrappy, short-handed teammates who nearly pulled off a shocker without four starters. Doncic joined LeBron James on the Lakers' lengthy list of unavailable players after scoring 45 points a night earlier in a loss at Milwaukee.

Los Angeles Lakers star point guard Luka Doncic will sit out Friday's road game against the Denver Nuggets with a sprained right ankle and his lingering left calf ailment.