Lakers-At-Nuggets Game Results - 27-Feb-09

DENVER (AP) -- For all the pundits who figure the Lakers and Spurs are the only teams to worry about in the West, the Denver Nuggets served notice Friday night that they deserve to be talked about, too.

J.R. Smith scored 22 points and hounded Kobe Bryant all night and the Nuggets beat cold-shooting Los Angeles 90-79 to end to end a nine-game losing streak against the Lakers.

The Nuggets got solid performances from reserves Smith and Chris Andersen, who tied a career high with seven blocks, pulled down 12 rebounds and chipped in 11 points, and their defense was, to a man, absolutely outstanding.

The Lakers, who brought the NBA's best record (48-10) into town when they checked into their hotel at 4 a.m., had their second-worst shooting night since the franchise moved to Southern California nearly a half century ago from Minneapolis -- 29.8 percent.

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