"In just over two seasons, Ty Lawson has rocketed from a point guard whom Nuggets coach George Karl was reluctant to play as a rookie to, it appears, being the most indispensable cog on a 14-6 team.

Never was that more evident than in Karl's comments Sunday night at the Pepsi Center after the Los Angeles Clippers snapped the Nuggets' six-game win streak. Karl called it "a good loss" to one of the Western Conference's most talented teams. Lawson missed his third consecutive game because of a sprained ankle."