The Lakers had seven players get into double figures on Sunday night when they took down the Denver Nuggets in a 127-109 final. The win moved the young Lakers to 7-10 on the season, a more than respectable figure for a squad that won only 26 games all last season.
While the Lakers are looking like an improved team in Luke Walton’s second season behind the continued growth of Brandon Ingram, steady veteran presence of Brook Lopez, and the surprising breakout rookie performance from Kyle Kuzma, they are still a young team that makes silly mistakes at times.
Youth tends to be the explanation for many errors made by the Lakers, but the one that stuck out as an especially funny moment in Sunday night’s win came at the hands of one of L.A.’s veterans, Corey Brewer. After a Nuggets’ turnover got swept across midcourt by Jordan Clarkson, Brewer scooped the ball up and found himself on a 5-on-1 fastbreak, with only Emmanuel Mudiay back for Denver. Brewer went for the lob attempt to Lonzo Ball, which would’ve undoubtedly brought the house down, only for it to be snagged by Mudiay and thrown the other way for an easy layup.
It’s honestly a great piece of defensive play from Mudiay (a rarity in this game from the Nuggets) by sagging off of Brewer enough to force a tricky lob pass. Hindsight being what it is, Brewer would’ve been much better off sending a bounce pass to Kuzma streaking down the floor who could’ve either dished again to Ball (or back to Brewer) or attacked the rim.
In any case, it’s a fun little bit, with the Lakers play-by-play man making the clip even better with his disappointment in the Lakers blowing a 5-on-1 opportunity. L.A. certainly got the last laugh in the game, with a Ball triple-double and big games from Kuzma, Clarkson, Lopez, and Julius Randle, but it might be time to tighten up the execution in advantageous fastbreak situations.
