LOS ANGELES -- Nick Young couldn't resist shooting advice toward Los Angeles Lakers teammate D'Angelo Russell.

"He needs to start passing the ball a little bit more like that," Young said.

Russell returned from an injury absence to score 22 points and hand out a career-high 10 assists, and the Lakers captured a 120-116 win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night at Staples Center.

Young had 23 points, hitting 5 of 8 from long distance, and Lou Williams added 21 points and seven assists for the Lakers, who snapped a seven-game skid to the Nuggets at Staples.

Russell missed the previous three games with a mild MCL sprain in his right knee and a strained right calf.

"Guys were making shots, left and right, we were getting stops and it just made it easier for me," said Russell, who also grabbed seven rebounds while helping the Lakers halt a three-game slide. "I know how easy it is to get assists, but you can't be a pass-first guy and get assists. You have to attack, so we're realizing that."

Rookie center Ivica Zubac scored a career-high 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting for Los Angeles (17-34), which matched its win total from last season.

"Shout out to Zubac for being Zubac," Young said.

Wilson Chandler collected 26 points and nine rebounds for the Nuggets, who had their three-game winning end. Gary Harris and Danilo Gallinari contributed 17 points apiece, while Jamal Murray and Kenneth Faried chipped in 14 points each for Denver (21-26). Faried had a game-high 17 rebounds.

Los Angeles forward Julius Randle was unavailable for the second game in a row due to pneumonia.

Denver played without two of its starters, forward Nikola Jokic and point guard Emmanuel Mudiay. Jokic sat out his second straight contest with a left hip flexor, while Mudiay missed his fifth game with lower back pain. Nuggets guard Will Barton also didn't play due to left ankle soreness.

Denver coach Michael Malone said the team's lack of defense was costly.

"One-hundred (and 20) points allowed, 39 in the fourth quarter and they shot 53 (percent) from the field and 46 (percent) from 3," Malone said. "Just a poor, poor defensive performance. Disappointing."

The teams traded baskets for the final five minutes. A jumper by Williams and an inside bucket by Zubac boosted the Lakers to a 114-111 lead with 1:40 remaining. Seventeen seconds later, Chandler's floater pulled Denver within 114-113.

Russell's jumper with 43.8 seconds remaining pushed the margin back to three.

Faried made one of two free throws to slice the deficit to two with 35 seconds to go, but Russell converted a pair of foul shots with 12.4 seconds left to put the Lakers up 118-114.

With 4.2 seconds left, Chandler's layup got Denver within two again, but Russell answered with two more free throws to cap the scoring.

"We missed a lot of open shots we usually make, but that's a part of basketball," said Faried, who had 12 points and 14 rebounds in the first half. "You have to put that behind you. You can't dictate your defense. But they made a lot of big shots, a lot of tough, contested threes. That was the difference in the game."

The Lakers connected on 52.8 percent of their shots to 41.4 percent for the Nuggets. Denver won the battle of the boards, 51-44, including 20-10 on the offensive end.

The Lakers, though, dominated on points in the paint, 64-34.

Denver led 59-54 at halftime after 17 lead changes, 14 of them occurring in the second quarter. Overall, there were 22 lead changes in the contest.

In the third, the Lakers opened with a 16-6 spurt for a 70-65 advantage after a bucket by Timofey Mozgov with 5:20 left in the quarter. Los Angeles took an 81-76 edge heading into the final quarter.

NOTES: Unlike Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, Nuggets coach Michael Malone danced around the controversial travel ban being pushed by President Trump. Van Gundy blasted the president Monday, comparing Trump's tactics to Adolf Hitler's in Nazi Germany. "I'll be honest, I'll let the Stan Van Gundys and Gregg Popovichs, the guys who have been around the league and a lot better, well-spoken than I am speak on that," Malone said. Nuggets F Kenneth Faried, who is Muslim, called the ban "the utmost disrespect."... Nuggets F Nikola Jokic (left hip flexor strain) participated in a light workout Tuesday morning. Jokic is listed as day-to-day. ... Lakers 19-year-old rookie C Ivica Zubac is progressing much faster than the club anticipated, allowing him to play his way into the rotation. ... Denver hosts the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. ... Los Angeles begins a five-game journey at the Washington Wizards on Thursday.