LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Gordon had 29 points and 15 rebounds, Nikola Jokic added 24 points, 15 boards and nine assists and the Denver Nuggets are one victory away from advancing to the second round of the postseason by beating 112-105 the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in Game 3 of their first-round series.
Jamal Murray had 22 points and the defending champions beat LeBron James and the Lakers in dominant fashion for the 11th time in a row.
Michael Porter Jr. contributed 20 points for Denver, which took control in the third quarter and continued in this way until the final minutes to win for the fifth straight game against the Lakers, which began with the sweep of the Western Conference finals from the previous season.
Game 4 will take place Saturday in Los Angeles Neither team has recovered from an 0-3 deficit in the playoffs.
Anthony Davis had 33 points and 15 rebounds, while James contributed 26 points and nine assists in the Lakers’ seventh straight loss to the Nuggets in two years. Los Angeles has not beaten Denver since December 16, 2022.
Austin Reaves had 22 points for Los Angeles, which reached the playoffs with a great game after Christmas and ended with the impressive victory in the mini-tournament against New Orleans.
But the Nuggets are still the same nightmare for the Lakers — and really every other opponent — as they were in the conference finals a year ago.
Davis and James surprised once again, but they can’t do it alone. The Lakers missed 15 of their first 16 three-point attempts and went almost 34 minutes without scoring from 3-point range.
Source: AP
2024-04-26 09:47:31
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