Jamal Murray hit one final dagger 3-pointer, an exclamation mark for a surging, versatile team.

Murray, Paul Millsap and Malik Beasley each finished with 20 points as the Nuggets ran the Lakers out of the gym for their fourth consecutive win. The 117-85 victory improved the Nuggets’ record to 14-7 overall.

LeBron James managed just 14 points on 5-for-15 shooting, while the Lakers as a whole struggled from the field. The Lakers’ only bright spot was Kyle Kuzma, who had 21 points. Los Angeles managed just 40 percent shooting from the field, including just 5-of-34 from long range. These types of stifling games are becoming commonplace for the NBA’s fourth-best defense.

“It’s our identity,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “For this to be 21 games in and for us to still be defending at the level we’re defending at, says a lot. It speaks to once again, the buy-in, the commitment and the fact that our guys realize that regardless of our offense, when we defend we’re a team that can beat anyone.”

Boxscore

After a relatively quiet first half, Nikola Jokic ripped open the game in the third quarter. Jokic drained back-to-back 3-pointers, both assisted by Murray, and then knocked in two more shots to go along with his consistent facilitating. By the time the quarter was over, the Nuggets were up 89-71 and staring at a win made possible by another strong defensive effort. Jokic finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Murray, who did the majority of his damage in the first half, added another small layer to his ongoing beef with the Lakers on Tuesday. Murray revived last season’s lingering animosity between the two sides when he got out in transition, pump faked past a flying Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a layup in the second quarter and then waved goodbye to him as he fell out of bounds.

It was a small moment, but probably enjoyable as Murray dealt with Lonzo Ball hounding him end to end for most of the game.

Last season, Murray twice angered the purple and gold for relatively minor infractions, first dribbling around Ball to close out a game in December and later jawing with Lakers coach Luke Walton near the end of a win in March.

Point guard Monte Morris, who routinely goes head to head with Murray in practices, predicted Murray might have something extra for Tuesday’s contest.

“I know he’s going to get up for this game,” Morris said. “No question. He likes big moments. He’s a big-time player. He went to Kentucky. He’s used to games like this.”

Morris said Murray, who earlier this season irritated Boston’s Kyrie Irving for a last-second shot that would’ve eclipsed 50 points, relishes getting under the skin of opposing fan bases.

“No, they get him going,” Morris said. “Me knowing Jamal, he’s a competitor. Even when we play in practice, he hates to lose. He thrives off things like that.”

Murray’s aggression helped the Nuggets build a 58-50 lead at halftime. He had 15 points on a game-high 14 shots as the game ping-ponged between full-court passes, missed 3-pointers and long rebounds. Neither team could connect from 3-point range, the two combining to shoot 6-for-26 in the first half. The Nuggets found of plenty of space in the paint despite the looming inside presence of JaVale McGee and Tyson Chandler. Millsap had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Juan Hernangomez chipped in 10 points.

James countered with 12 first-half points, bullying his way through the paint or getting out in transition.

Malone said the consecutive days off allowed for his team to finally address small, nagging issues on both ends.

“It gives you a chance, defensively to clean things up,” he said. “There are things that have been giving us trouble throughout the last three, four, five games that we haven’t had a chance to clean up because we don’t have practice time.”

They didn’t have that excuse Tuesday and won’t going into their next game, at Portland, on Friday.

Despite the high-profile contest, Gary Harris rested for the second consecutive game with a sore left ankle. He first sat Saturday night in Oklahoma City, and Malone intimated it was largely precautionary.

“My concern was if he plays, are we now risking more injury and a further absence,” Malone said. “Just trying to protect our guys whenever we can, but Gary wanted to play (Saturday).”