The Lakers held Jokic, who entered the weekend leading the NBA in frontcourt touches with 56.6 touches, to 43 frontcourt touches on Saturday. He possessed the ball nearly a third less of the time on Saturday (3.1 minutes) than he did entering the matchup (4.5 minutes) and held the ball for shorter periods of time when he did have it.

LeBron James scored 25 points, Luka Doncic added 32 and the Los Angeles Lakers trounced the Denver Nuggets on the road by 23 points Saturday, showing flashes of the title contender people thought they could be when they made a move to pair the two stars.

There emerged two ways to evaluate the Nuggets’ loss on Saturday: Nikola Jokic’s perspective and the counter-notion that the Lakers just really wanted this one.

Los Angeles Lakers starting forward Rui Hachimura left the Nuggets game in the fourth quarter with an apparent injury. Hachimura left the floor in pain and went straight to the bench. The 27-year-old went to the locker room.

Winners of 13 of their last 14 against the Lakers and eight consecutive head-to-head matchups at home, the Nuggets (37-20) were taken out of their comfort zone by a new-look Los Angeles roster. Anthony Davis was the player cashed in for Doncic, but somehow it was the Lakers’ defense that affected the hosts most. Denver shot 40% from the floor.