The Lakers bounced back from a loss against the Celtics by defeating the Nuggets at home (126-108).
Despite missing Anthony Davis in the second half, Los Angeles made a push and secured a rather comfortable win.
One of the major contributors for the Purple and Gold was Thomas Bryant who scored 21 points and grabbed 6 rebounds as he came off the bench to step up in AD’s absence.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham had nothing but praise for the 25-year-old center for his effort on both ends of the floor.
“We didn’t want that Boston loss to spill into future games and it can,” Ham said. “At the end of the day our guys dug down deep. They made some runs in the first half and really put a lot of pressure on our defense and we were fouling.
“And then offensively I thought we’re playing a little bit too fast, rushing too many things and just not giving ourselves a real chance by exploring different options within our sets.
“But low and behold second half came, got the news about AD, Thomas, my hat’s off to him. He’s a pro as pro. Keeps himself ready, keeps himself ready.
“That’s why we have play groups, stay ready groups for guys low-minute or no-minutes guys that continue to stay sharp. He did that.
“He came out and had a really really huge effort against two-time MVP and really helped us on both sides of basketball. Just his energy and activity, his no-quit mentality – we needed that, he was a huge burst for us.”
This season Bryant is averaging 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game.
