Summary
D'Angelo Russell missed 13 of his final 16 shot attempts and scored 13 points. "D-Lo is a huge reason why we're here in the first place," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. "I'm not going to bail out on my player just because he's missing the shots that he normally makes" The Lakers lost to the Nuggets in a four-game sweep last year. Russell re-signed with Los Angeles in the offseason. He survived the trade deadline without being dealt. His overall production has been night and day compared to last year's performance. But his numbers on Saturday echoed that nightmare of a series for him. "I don't recall the last time I got 20 shots. So for me to get 20 good looks -- not 20 'good,' probably five or six of them were questionable," Russell says. "I know what I'm capable of. So honestly, I'm excited. I'm excitement about that." Anthony Davis: "We can't do anything about this. But you can do something about Game 2" Denver dominated the boards 49-40 and scored 18 points off 15 offensive rebounds. The Nuggets had half as many turnovers as the Lakers, six to 12. The Lakers mustered just eight second-chance points.