Denver Nuggets vs LA Lakers Predicted Starting Lineups and Depth Chart for Nov. 23 | 2024-25 NBA Season

Two Western Conference heavyweights collide as the Los Angeles Lakers host the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. Both teams enter the game in similar situations on the back of recent defeats.

The Lakers will be desperate to right the wrongs after suffering their first home defeat of the season against the Sacramento Kings in their NBA Cup clash on Friday. Similarly, the Nuggets saw their five-game home winning streak come to an end as they fell 123-120 to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Lakers (10-5) have had a solid start to the season, staying competitive with the league leaders. They currently trail the Golden State Warriors and OKC Thunder by two games.

The Nuggets' (8-6) 101-94 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, as well as a 105-90 defeat at the hands of the Grizzlies without star player Nikola Jokic, signaled about as dire a start to the season as they could have imagined. They would need much more than a great deal of individual brilliance to go their way to get out of their new-found slump.

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Denver Nuggets vs LA Lakers Predicted Starting Lineups and Depth Chart for Nov. 23 | 2024-25 NBA Season

Denver Nuggets Predicted Starting Lineup and Depth Chart

The Nuggets are not without their injury problems. Vlatko Cancar and Aaron Gordon are still sidelined with knee and calf injuries. DaRon Holmes II is also listed out.

However, Nikola Jokic, who missed the previous week due to personal reasons, is back in the lineup. He started Friday's game and scored a team-high 33 points. He will be hoping for a much-improved performance against his bitter rivals over the weekend.

Jokic will start along with Peyton Watson, Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray and Christian Braun.

Point guards	Jamal Murray	Russel Westbrook	Trey Alexander
Shooting guards	Christian Braun	Julian Strawther	Jalen Pickett
Small forwards	Michael Porter Jr.	Hunter Tyson
Power forwards	Peyton Watson	Dario Saric	Vlatko Cancar
Center	Zeke Nnaji	DeAndre Jordan	Aaron Gordon

LA Lakers Starting Lineup and Depth Chart

The Lakers have five absentees, with Jarred Vanderbilt (foot), Christian Wood (knee) and Jaxson Hayes (ankle) remaining on the sidelines for at least another month. Bronny James will also miss the game, and Quincy Olivari is also listed as unavailable due to a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Anthony Davis is probable with left plantar fasciitis. Davis is not only crucial for the Lakers defensively, but also for their attacking threat.

He is most likely to feature in the starting five along with LeBron James, Cam Reddish, Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht.

Point guards	Austin Reaves	D'Angelo Russell	Jalen Hood-Schifino
Shooting guards	Cam Reddish	Gabe Vincent
Small forwards	Dalton Knecht	Rui Hachimura	Max Christie
Power forwards	LeBron James	Maxwell Lewis	Christian Wood
Centers C	Anthony Davis	Jaxson Hayes	Christian Koloko

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Denver Nuggets vs LA Lakers head-to-head

This weekend's matchup will be the 193rd regular season meeting between these two teams in NBA history. The Lakers have a rather unsightly record against the Nuggets in recent years.

The LA outfit has not won a game since 2022, with the Nuggets winning all of their previous four regular-season meetings in a row. The last time these two teams met was in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs in April. The Nuggets won the game with a scoreline of 108-106, which may leave the hosts keen to avenge their loss earlier this term.