The leading scorer in the first half wasn't Bryant, Allen Iverson or Carmelo Anthony. It was Carter, who had 16 points as the Nuggets took a 52-46 halftime lead.
The Lakers won their first two games by an average of 29 points, but they were tied going into the fourth quarter against Denver, 76-76.
Across the board, the Lakers' shooting was woeful. Josh Powell was their only player to make more than half his shots, hitting two of three.
Jordan Farmar made one of eight shots, Vladimir Radmanovic made two of seven and Odom made three of nine.
Bynum took one shot the whole night. He missed it.
The Lakers' reserves, a fountain of strength over the first two games, were a non-entity Saturday, outscoring Denver's reserves by a nondescript 31-25.
In the end, really, the Lakers were fortunate that Bryant was there.
"Kobe picked us up by the boot straps and carried us home," Jackson said.
The Nuggets (1-2) didn't shoot very well either. Anthony had 13 points on five-for-15 shooting and Iverson had 13 points on three-for-eight shooting. Carter made eight of nine shots.
The Lakers now face almost an entire week of down time, a rarity so early in the season.
They don't play again until Wednesday against the Clippers and then don't play after that until next Sunday against Houston.
Jackson canceled practice today, the better to rest up and, perhaps, take comfort in knowing they still have one of the game's best closers when things aren't tilting their direction.
"Nights when they need me to do it, hopefully it'll be there," Bryant said.
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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com
