Nuggets coach calls Lakers ‘the best team in the West’

For as good as the Denver Nuggets are, their head coach thinks they still have a ways to go to catch the Los Angeles Lakers.

Speaking before their game against the Lakers on Tuesday, Nuggets coach Mike Malone praised the opposition.

“[The Lakers] are on a whole nother level,” he said, per Nuggets reporter Katy Winge. “They’re the best team in the West.”

Denver currently sits second in the West at 13-4, 2.5 games behind the 17-3 Lakers. While they have built a reputation as a deep, defensively-savvy team that is especially unstoppable at home, the Nuggets don’t quite measure up to the two-way excellence and superstar play that the Lakers boast right now.

The Lakers are also getting impact contributions from some unlikely sources, making them quite a handful to stop for the Nuggets and the rest of the NBA.

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