Jamal Murray's clutch 3-pointer helps Nuggets hold off short-handed Lakers 131-126

DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray sank a 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left and Russell Westbrook stole the inbounds pass for a exclamation-point dunk as the Denver Nuggets rebuffed the scrappy, short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 131-126 on Friday night.

Murray finished with 26 points and while the win was something to celebrate, there were enough red flags for coach Michael Malone to crumple up the stat sheet as he sat down for his postgame news conference.

Austin Reaves scored 37 points and Dalton Knecht added 32 for the Lakers, whose lengthy list of injured players included LeBron James and Luka Doncic, who was ruled out on the second night of back-to-back games because of left calf injury management and a right ankle sprain.

James missed his third straight game with a left groin strain and returned to Los Angeles along with Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) and Jaxson Hayes (bruised right knee) ahead of the Lakers’ game in Denver. Also, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent sat out to rest left ankle injuries.

James’ son, Bronny, scored five points after being recalled from the G League.

The Lakers lost their fourth straight despite a furious second-half rally that saw them take a 126-123 lead with 52 seconds remaining.

Nikola Jokic, who scored 28, tied it with a three-point play and Reaves misfired from 15 feet before Murray buried the 3 thanks to a screen from Jokic that blocked two defenders.

Lakers: Despite feeling under the weather, Bronny James played 16 minutes.

Nuggets: Denver's inability to pull away from a short-handed bunch could be cause for concern for a team jockeying for playoff position.

The Lakers were about to get blown out but used a 19-9 run to close the third quarter and cut a 13-point deficit to 102-99.

The Nuggets were 21 of 25 from the free throw line before halftime. The Lakers only shot seven free throws in the first half and made six.

The Lakers host Phoenix on Sunday. The Nuggets host Washington on Saturday night, their fifth game in seven days.

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Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, left, loses control of the ball as Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht waits for play to resume in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., left, drives to the basket as Los Angeles Lakers center Alex Len, right, and guard Austin Reaves, center, defend in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves, second from right, pushes Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, out of the way in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic heads back to the bench in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, greets Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic, right, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)