The Lakers are still alive. The Los Angeles franchise finally managed to find the key against the reigning champion Denver, for a success at home (119-108), on the night of Saturday to Sunday, which allows it to be led “only” 3 -1 and avoid humiliation against the Colorado franchise for the second year in a row, after that suffered in the Western Conference final last year.
The Lakers, who remained on 11 defeats in a row against Denver and had not won against this opponent since December 2022, showed great collective strength to keep at bay the ghosts of the Nuggets’ comebacks during the first two matches of the series. . As a reminder, the defending champions had been trailing for a good part of the match during match 2, before equalizing at the very end of the match then crucifying the Lakers with a shot at the buzzer from Jamal Murray to win 101-99 .
James revenge, Jokic still in triple-double
Without much hope of reversing this first round – no team has ever managed to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the play-offs in the history of the NBA – but with pride, LeBron James once again showed the way with 30 points in 38 minutes (14/23 shooting, also 5 rebounds, 4 assists). It was he who finished off Denver at the end of the match, scoring a dunk after an interception on Nikola Jokic 2 minutes 30 from time. The 39-year-old “King” was well supported by Anthony Davis (25 points, 23 rebounds, 6 assists), D’Angelo Russell (21 points) and Austin Reaves (21 points).
This offensive success was necessary to prevent Jokic, still with a triple-double (33 points, 14 rebounds, 14 assists), from taking his team in his wake and qualifying the Nuggets for the Conference semi-final. The Lakers were also able to hold the result in the second half, unlike the first three matches of the series during which they had each time taken the lead after the first quarter, then at the break, but had not been able to maintain the same intensity upon returning from the locker room.
They will have to repeat this performance in match 5, if they still want to give themselves a chance in this series. The match will be played on the Nuggets floor on Monday.
