Jokic notched the 65th triple-double of his career just 2:10 into the second half and sat out the final 14 minutes.
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Michael Malone knew Bones Hyland was struggling, so the Denver coach sat down with him after a Denver morning shootaround this week. Hyland followed up a 17-point game against Portland with career highs of 27 points and 10 rebounds in the Nuggets’ 133-96 victory over the Lakers on Saturday night.
Nikola Jokic had 17 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds for his eighth triple-double of the season, while Jeff Green scored a season-high 26 points in Denver’s second straight blowout victory. All five Nuggets starters scored in double figures.
Hyland averaged 4.6 points in the first five games of January but has turned it around against the Trail Blazers on Thursday and Los Angeles. He is 11 for 19 from 3-point range and is shooting 51.8% in the last two games after his talk with Malone.
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”It meant a lot to me. It took some stress off my shoulders and made me relax more and it also made me more comfortable knowing me and Coach have that connection,” Hyland said.
The Lakers have lost three straight after winning four in a row. LeBron James had 24 points and nine rebounds, but made just 9 of 23 field goals. Russell Westbrook, who was just 15 for 59 in the previous four games, had 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting.
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”We’ve just got to make a decision we’re going to play hard,” Westbrook said. ”Sometimes, the schemes and how you play, it doesn’t really matter. You’ve just got to play hard sometimes. Teams are playing harder than us, so it’s as simple as that.”
Denver led by five after the first quarter and by 18 in the second quarter when Jokic asserted himself. He had eight points and six assists in the final 7:10 of the half and finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists at intermission. Jokic notched the 65th triple-double of his career just 2:10 into the second half and sat out the final 14 minutes.
”Nikola gets a triple-double in 28 minutes, Bones gets his first career double-double, the bench was great, the starters were great,” Malone said.
Things got testy in the third when Aaron Gordon was called for a foul on Westbrook and Westbrook took exception. Players and officials separated the players and both received technicals. Denver led by 19 at that point, 102-79 after three quarters and by as many as 42 in the fourth quarter.
”We’ve got to get back to the drawing board and get our defense right,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. ”We haven’t performed well enough in the last two games on that side of the ball.”
