These games happen in the NBA. There was no LeBron James or Luka Doncic for the Lakers, but with the chance to shine, other guys stepped up — Austin Reaves scored 37, Dalton Knecht had 32 with five 3-pointers, and Los Angeles just played hard. Meanwhile, Denver played like they expected the Lakers to roll over.

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 Friday night.

Jamal Murray hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds left, and the host Denver Nuggets beat a depleted Los Angeles Lakers team, 131-126, on Friday night.