The Los Angeles Lakers lastly cracked the Denver Nuggets’ mastery of this rivalry and prolonged their playoff lives for no less than one other sport.
To completely no one’s shock, LeBron James led the way in which.
James scored 30 factors, Anthony Davis added 25 factors and 23 rebounds, and the Lakers prevented postseason elimination with a 119-108 victory over Denver in Game 4 of their first-round collection on Saturday evening.
D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves scored 21 factors apiece for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who snapped their 11-game shedding streak in opposition to the defending NBA champion with their first win over the Nuggets since December 2022.
A collection with clear patterns and rhythms lastly modified within the Lakers’ favour. For the fourth straight sport, Los Angeles took a double-digit lead earlier than the Nuggets rallied within the second half behind Nikola Jokic.
But for the primary time on this collection, the Lakers didn’t wilt underneath the defending champions’ strain. The 39-year-old James scored 14 factors within the fourth quarter on 6-of-8 capturing, once more carrying the Lakers late in his twenty first NBA season.
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Game 5 is on Monday evening in Denver.
“We’ve given ourselves another lifeline, and it’s a one-game series for us,” James stated. “Monday’s game is the most important game of the season for us, and we understand that.”
Denver swept Los Angeles out of the Western Conference finals final season, however the present Lakers responded to this 0-3 deficit with a efficiency extra worthy of a staff that rolled into the postseason with 12 wins in 15 video games.
“We get another opportunity to go play one more game, and if we win, come back and play another one and keep moving from there,” Reaves stated. “Odds aren’t stacked in our favor, but anytime we can keep ourselves floating above water and give ourselves an opportunity to do something special, we’re up for the challenge.”
Jokic had 33 factors, 14 rebounds and 14 assists for his 18th profession triple-double and second on this collection, however the two-time MVP and his teammates couldn’t reassert their typical late-game dominance over the Lakers.
The Lakers’ 19-point lead with simply over six minutes left dwindled to 113-106 on Jokic’s three-point play with 1:25 remaining, however Reaves hit a brief jumper earlier than including 4 free throws within the ultimate minute.
Denver in the end couldn’t overcome yet one more gradual offensive begin in a collection filled with them.
“Of course we want to (start faster), but I learned in horse racing, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Jokic stated. “We didn’t finish today really well, so hopefully we can do a better job. But yes, we want to be up and control the game, but it seems like that didn’t happen to us.”
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Michael Porter Jr. had 27 factors and 11 rebounds for Denver, and Jamal Murray scored 22 factors whereas going 0 for 4 on 3-point makes an attempt. Aaron Gordon had simply seven factors for the Nuggets after placing up 29 in Game 3 through the highest-scoring playoff sport of his profession — however offense wasn’t the Nuggets’ drawback, based on coach Michael Malone.
“The paint (defense) was a joke,” Malone stated after his staff allowed a whopping 72 factors within the paint.
“Every huddle, I sounded like a broken record tonight,” Malone added. “Every huddle was, ‘Paint, paint, paint.’ (In) Game 3, they had 70 and we found a way to win. Tonight, they had 72. That’s an incredible number. … I just didn’t think we had the requisite physicality or urgency. This did not seem like a closeout game.”
The second-seeded Nuggets additionally misplaced a closeout sport in final season’s first spherical whereas up 3-0 on Minnesota, however Denver received that collection in 5 video games and misplaced solely three extra instances on the way in which to its first title.
While Jokic was prolific and James seized the highlight late, Davis was excellent for the fourth straight sport. His 23 rebounds matched his profession playoff excessive, and he even shared the Lakers’ staff lead with six assists.
“It’s tough to get swept,” Davis stated. “Nobody wants that feeling, especially going to the summer. You’ve got to live with that feeling for the rest of the summer. So we didn’t really talk about it. We know what’s at stake. Nobody wants that feeling in your mouth for the rest of the summer. The way we played tonight is the way we have to play the rest of the series.”
The Lakers confirmed no stop of their dire circumstances in Game 4, pounding the ball inside for 44 factors within the paint through the first half and taking their fourth halftime lead of the collection.
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The Lakers stretched their benefit to fifteen factors within the third quarter and stored constructing till the ultimate minutes, when Jokic and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sparked a Nuggets rally.
“They were really pushing the pace,” Jokic stated. “They had open layups. They were destroying us in the paint. We couldn’t make a shot. They couldn’t make a shot either (at times), but it seems like that affected our defense a lot. That’s a great team.”
Reggie Jackson performed 9 minutes for Denver regardless of spraining his ankle within the second half of Game 3.
Caleb Williams, the Heisman Trophy-winning former USC quarterback and the No. 1 general choose on this weekend’s NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, watched the sport from courtside.
