Watch: Christian Braun swats LeBron James’ attempt as Nuggets go up 17 early in the 2nd quarter

The Denver Nuggets got their title defense to a strong start, getting spirited plays on both ends from players like Christian Braun to pound on the LA Lakers early in their season opener on Tuesday at home.

Second-year player Braun provided one of the highlight plays in the opening half with a well-timed block on Lakers superstar LeBron James as he drove to the basket just as the Nuggets looked sturdy with a 17-point lead early in the second frame.

Watch sophomore Christian Braun swat LeBron James’ shot in the Nuggets-Lakers season opener

Christian Braun is expected to figure more prominently in the rotation as the Nuggets try to repeat as champions in the new season. With key cogs from last year like Bruce Brown and Jeff Green moving to other teams in the offseason, Denver will be relying more on players like Braun to step up and fill up the void.

And the former Kansas Jayhawk is seemingly up for the challenge as he was all hustle in the first half of their opening night game at Ball Arena in Denver.

Last season, Christian Braun played 76 games and was good for 4.7 points on 49.5% shooting (35.4% from beyond the arc) and 2.4 rebounds in just 16.0 minutes. In the playoffs, he proved himself as a valuable player off the bench, giving the team quality minutes with all-around heads-up plays off the bench.

Denver finished the opening half of its season opener against the Lakers with a nine-point lead, 63-54. The next game for the Nuggets is against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

Christian Braun key in Denver’s title run last season

While he was playing in just his first year in the NBA last season, Christian Braun proved himself valuable for the Denver Nuggets in their quest for their first league title.

The 21st pick in the 2021 NBA draft, Braun produced stellar performances to help his team close out the Miami Heat in five games in the NBA Finals.

Most notable was in Game 3 of the series, where he exploded for 15 points on efficient 7-for-8 shooting to help the Nuggets to a 109-94 victory and a 2-1 lead.

His solid play complemented well the 30-point triple-double games of Denver superstars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.

In the five games he played in the NBA Finals, Braun averaged 5.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg and 1.2 apg in 16.0 minutes.