"Exciting Whites went off" - Lakers fans rave about Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht rocking Denver with 30-point outings in close loss

With four starters out of action, it was always going to be a tall task for the LA Lakers to win against the Denver Nuggets. Despite credible showings from Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht, the LA Lakers fell short against fellow championship hopefuls, the Denver Nuggets, in Friday night's loss.

The Lakers' core was severely depleted, but JJ Redick pulled out all the stops and utilized his bench depth very effectively, going deeper than they have all season.

The last remaining healthy Lakers starter, Austin Reaves, finished the game with 37 points on 13-of-26 shooting, plus 13 assists, eight rebounds and four steals.

Dalton Knecht, who's having a stellar rookie season, had a 32-point performance, going 13 of 27 shooting from the field, plus two rebounds and an assist. Lakers fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to show their appreciation for their team's role players, stepping up in the absence of well-established stars.

"The lakers really are three white dude and LeBron" - Joked one fan

"Austin Reaves should be the 2nd option not LeBron, with Reaves as Robin to Luka, you make LeBron Alfred" - Said another fan, drawing an analogy from Batman

"Imgaine Dalton putting up these numbers all the time in Charlotte. Laker fans would riot. Glad he’s still with LAL." - Replied another fan

"They play like this in the playoffs, curtains. Ring the King and we set for a dynasty" - Replied an optimistic fan

JJ Redick's strategy may have worked out favorably for them had Jamal Murray not broken Laker nation's hearts in the final seconds with a clutch three that handed the Nuggets their forty-third win this season.

Lakers HC JJ Redick exudes optimism despite close loss to Denver Nuggets

Two weeks after masterminding a defensive plan that managed to succesfully blunt MVP favorite Nikola Jokic's offensive brilliance, the Lakers fell to their fourth straight loss.

Despite the Lakers' familiar foe Jamal Murray breaking their hearts in the clutch yet again, JJ Redick remained upbeat in the post game press conference and praised his team's effort and application.

" Proud of their level of fight and resiliency, particularly not getting off to a great start there in the second half, our transition defense was pretty bad from the first six minutes." said Redick "There's things we could have done a lot better, but the group competed at night and gave ourselves a chance to win."

Redick also cleared the air about Dalton Knecht's apparent injury that he suffered by banging his head on the floor. The LA Lakers coach waved the injury off as minor and expected the rookie sharpshooter to return before the start of their five-game home stand at the Crypto.com arena against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday afternoon.