Austin Reaves Impresses NBA Fans Despite Lakers' Loss to Nuggets with LeBron, Luka Out

The Los Angeles Lakers nearly pulled out a win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night despite missing both of the team's superstars.

The Nuggets held on for a 131-126 victory due to a go-ahead three-pointer from Jamal Murray with roughly five seconds left in the fourth quarter, though.

Despite the loss, the Lakers put together an admirable performance with LeBron James and Luka Dončić both out due to their respective groin and ankle injuries.

Austin Reaves led the way for Los Angeles, scoring a game-high 37 points on 50/40/100 shooting splits while dishing out 13 assists. Reaves also pulled down eight rebounds and made several plays late in the fourth quarter.

Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht also chipped in with 32 points of his own, shooting 13-of-27 from the field.

Fans were still impressed with the performance from Reaves and Los Angeles in the defeat.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick utilized a deep rotation without his stars available, as 10 players stepped on the floor for Los Angeles.

This included Bronny James, who finished with five points and two rebounds on 1-of-5 shooting in 15 minutes.

For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokić scored 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds to go along with 11 assists. Murray finished with 26 points, while Christian Braun recorded 22 points and hit nine of his 10 field-goal attempts.

Denver improved to 43-24, while Los Angeles fell to 40-25.