Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman highlighted his team’s defensive performance following Thursday’s 120‑113 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. “Yeah, it was really good… the issue was the live ball turnovers. You’d rather throw the ball out of bounds, but we gave great effort,” he said.
Adelman emphasized the importance of limiting second-chance points. “It’s really important to rebound the ball, and we did that. We kept them off the glass… take away the second chance opportunity. A lot of positives in this game,” he added.
The coach reflected on managing late-game situations. “I don’t really think about that. We’ve had some struggles… but I thought we did a good job getting the ball to the elbow for Nikola. Gives him more space to attack,” Adelman explained.
Adelman discussed trusting role players in a fluid system. “Tim and Julian combined for 32. Jokic only had six shots at half, but had all those assists… you find the weak side and trust those guys,” he said. He cited a key play: “Nikola ISOed and went left and beat his man, and Julian standing there in the corner, that was the biggest shot of the game to me.”
Regarding Zeke Nnaji guarding LeBron James, Adelman said, “I thought he was really good. He competed with him… we meet as a staff and decide matchups nightly. Zeke really competed with arguably the greatest player of all time.”
Adelman also explained his late-game strategy with Jokic. “We went to the post a few times… it’s good to have some body movement in motion as opposed to just straight ISOs. Jamal gets to space, you have to honor that,” he said.
On Christian Braun’s role, Adelman praised his conditioning and confidence. “The speed is fully back… the guy was incredible. He’s up there with guys I’ve coached who could play 45 minutes and be laughing after the game. He’s running his routes, playing confidently, and our transition rim runner,” he noted.
Adelman concluded by framing the victory in the context of the season series. “That’s really important… to tie it knowing we have a chance because all these teams are going to be close at the end of the year,” he said.
With the win, Denver improves to 39‑24, maintaining a narrow lead over Los Angeles (37‑25) in the Western Conference. The Nuggets host the New York Knicks Friday, while the Lakers return home to face the Indiana Pacers.
