The Los Angeles Lakers opened their 2014-2015 preseason on Monday, October 6th by hosting the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers brought their almost entirely brand new squad out on Monday night to face off against Ty Lawson and the fiery young Nuggets team, and came out on top. Everyone assumed the Lakers would blow things this year with the loss of Veteran forward Pau Gasol, but with acquisitions like Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin, the new roster had something else to say.

Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash both returned healthy, which was the real worry of Byron Scott and the Lakers staff. Bryant, although he air balled his first shot, came back and either assisted or scored on the first 15 Laker points of the night. Kobe was welcomed warmly with chants of “MVP” from his long time fans. Although he only played minimal minutes, Kobe showed that he was back and had the potential to make a difference this year. Everyone in LA was happy to see that. Lin, although he did not score a single bucket the entire game, ended the night with 10 assists and made everyone around him better. Nash played up to standards as well with some dazzling passes and intelligent plays that showed his audience that he still had something left this year as well. Boozer and Hill both showed their presence in the paint and post, with Hill throwing down a few thunderous jams.

The team looked good back in action with their full roster out there, aside from youngster Nick Young who hurt himself in practice guarding Kobe Bryant. They kept level with the Nuggets the entire game, occasionally falling behind a few and having good runs where they ran off some leads, and ended the night with a 98-96 victory over the Denver Nuggets. Maybe the Lakers will be able to compete this year, only time will tell.