The Los Angeles Lakers dropped their fifth straight game in a 119-101 loss to the Denver Nuggets Wednesday night on the second night of a back to back.

The two teams were going back and forth in the first half, with the Nuggets leading by only four at halftime. However, the second half was completely dominated by the Nuggets, who extended their lead to 20 late in the third quarter to cruise to victory.

Ty Lawson paced Denver with 10 points in the third, while Kenneth Faried added nine points of his own to put the game out of reach.

Faried finished with a double-double of 29 points and 11 rebounds on 10 of 14 shooting to go along with two blocks and two steals in just 29 minutes of action. He played with the energy and aggression that has been absent for the most part of this season.

Danilo Gallinari scored 27 points, collected seven rebounds, and dished out four assists. Lawson added 16 points and eight assists. The Nuggets starters were a combined plus-139 on the floor together. They picked up the slack for their poor bench play.

The Lakers, meanwhile, were even more shorthanded as Jeremy Lin missed the game with a sore left knee. He will have an MRI tomorrow as it’s the same knee he had surgery on a few years ago. The Lakers went with a starting backcourt of the two rookies, Jordan Clarkson and Jabari Brown.

Clarkson scored a team-high 21 points and nine assists, while Brown put in 11 points on 3 of 12 shooting from the floor. Ryan Kelly pushed in 17 points on an efficient 6 of 8 shooting. Ed Davis, who is back into the rotation, recorded a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. Dwight Buycks had 15 of his own, having played 35 minutes.

Byron Scott used only eight players tonight, benching Carlos Boozer and Jordan Hill for the second consecutive game. Despite having an eight-man rotation, the Lakers bench outscored Denver’s, 40-26.

With the loss, the Lakers slipped to 20-58 and have now guaranteed themselves the fourth worst record in the league, which could work wonders for their lottery positioning. The Nuggets improved to 29-49 and took the season series 3-1 against L.A.

The Lakers will be back in action on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the STAPLES Center. The Nuggets play the Dallas Mavericks next on Friday, April 10th.