Los Angeles, CA (My Sportsbook) - The Los Angeles Lakers try to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season this evening when they welcome Carmelo Anthony and the upstart Denver Nuggets to the Staples Center.

To make matters worse for the Lakers, they could be without star guard Kobe Bryant, who will be in Eagle, Colorado this morning for a hearing in his upcoming sexual assault trial.

Bryant is charged with attacking a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado resort in June. He claims the two had consensual sex. He faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted of felony sexual assault.

There is a possibility, however, that Bryant could return in time for tonight's contest, but team officials do not anticipate him playing. Should he miss the game, though, it would be the first time his legal problems have kept him from playing.

Bryant's absence could not come at a worse time for the Lakers, who enter tonight's contest following a 112-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last Saturday.

Bryant scored a game-high 35 points and Shaquille O'Neal added 22 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, which also dropped two in a row from November 7-10.

The Lakers, who will close a brief two-game homestand on Sunday against Phoenix, are an impressive 12-1 at home this season.

Denver, meanwhile, continued to be the surprise of the NBA on Wednesday, as Carmelo Anthony scored the game-winning basket on a tough driving lay-in with six seconds remaining in the Nuggets' 99-98 win over the Seattle SuperSonics. Anthony finished with 14 points on just 6-of-18 shooting to help the Nuggets win their third game in four tries.

Voshon Lenard contributed 19 points for Denver, which has won nine of its last 12.

Andre Miller played brilliantly despite suffering from a sprained shoulder in that game, coming one assist shy of a triple double. He posted 20 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in this contest, helping the surprising Nuggets improve to 16-9 this season.

Seattle trailed by two at 97-95 until Rashard Lewis drove to the basket, converted over Denver's Nene and was fouled. He then made his one shot from the line to give Seattle the lead with 10.8 seconds left to play.

Anthony, though, came up big and converted the game-winning bucket down low following a timeout. Antonio Daniels then drove the length of the court attempting to re-claim the lead for Seattle, but Marcus Camby got a piece of the shot for his seventh block of the game to preserve the victory for the Nuggets.

Camby finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, but had his string of three straight double-doubles come to an end.

Denver and Cleveland were the NBA's worst teams last season with 17-65 records. A victory over the Lakers tonight would give the Nuggets the same number of wins they had a year ago in 56 fewer games.

Denver, though, has struggled on the road this season and is just 6-7 away from home.

LA took all four matchups last season and have won eight of the last nine meetings. The Lakers have also won 23 of the previous 29 matchups, including 12 of 13 in Los Angeles.