LOS ANGELES — After the Lakers had a depleted version of their available roster for last Friday’s matchup in Denver, the Nuggets were without their two best players for Wednesday’s rematch at Crypto.com Arena.
Reigning MVP big man Nikola Jokic (bruised right elbow/left ankle impingement) and star guard Jamal Murray (sprained right ankle) were unavailable on Wednesday, the last of four regular-season matchups between the teams.
Jokic and Murray also sat out of the Nuggets’ Monday road win against the Golden State Warriors.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps criticized the Nuggets’ star duo for not playing in the game against the Warriors that was broadcast nationally on ESPN during an appearance on the network’s “Get Up” morning show. As part of his criticism, Bontemps said, “It’s a horrible look for the league.”
Wednesday’s game was also nationally televised on ESPN.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who didn’t mention Bontemps directly, pushed back against criticism of Jokic and Murray being sidelined when he spoke to reporters before Wednesday’s matchup.
“You all listen to your body,” Malone said. “And it’s not just Nikola, it’s also our training staff. I have to, as a head coach, trust our players as well as trust the training staff. Somebody said the other night after the Golden State game that ‘what the Denver Nuggets did was a disgrace to the league.’ And I think that’s just a bunch of [expletive].”
Jokic, a three-time league MVP, entered Wednesday having played the third-most regular-season games (737) since the start of the 2015-16 season, according to StatMuse.
“So if Nikola’s not playing, it’s not because he’s sitting, it’s not because he needs rest – it’s because he’s hurt and he’s trying to play through things that most wouldn’t,” Malone said. “And we’re at a point right now where we have to do what’s best for not just Nikola, but all of our guys as we move forward and try to close out this season. So we don’t rest guys. If guys miss games because they’re unable to go out there and perform at the level that we need them to perform at. I think that’s really important that everybody knows that.”
The Lakers nearly stunned the Nuggets at Ball Arena last week despite playing without Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, Jaxson Hayes and Gabe Vincent.
James (strained left groin) and Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) also remained sidelined for Wednesday.
Hachimura has missed nine consecutive games while James has missed six.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said before Wednesday’s game that James and Hachimura remain day-to-day.
Even with significant players out for both sides, Redick said he felt there was plenty that could still be taken away from Wednesday’s game.
Nuggets second-year wing Julian Strawther also wasn’t available because of a sprained left knee.
“You can always gather information from any game and [Wednesday] will be no different,” Redick said. “And [Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks] will be no different even though they’re an Eastern Conference team. You’re in constant evaluation mode.”
Redick also addressed how the team has adapted and learned to play alongside Doncic, even during games when they have been without key players.
“With Luka, he has the ability to draw multiple defenders, whether that’s in isolation or in the post or in pick-and-roll,” Redick said. “Some of the pick-and-roll stuff we’ve been looking at with our analytics crew, we’ve executed well against the blitzes and [trapping]. [Assistant coach] Greg St. Jean has done a good job with limited practice time in his film edits pregame to make sure that we’re organized.”