DENVER (AP) Reflecting on his game during a monthlong recovery from a broken left rib has helped Ty Lawson come back strong.

Kenneth Faried scored a career-high 32 points, Lawson had 30 in his third game back from the injury and the Denver Nuggets beat the skidding Los Angeles Lakers 134-126 on Friday night.

"When you sit out, you watch a lot of tape from a lot of games and I could see things opening up or things I wasn't taking," said Lawson, averaging 27 points and 11.6 assists since his return. "It's been helping me shooting the 3s, and making them, and it's opened up the rest of my game, the mid-range shots, getting to the basket and getting more assists."