Basketball, NBA, Conference Finals: Dennis Schröder loses game one with the Lakers

The Denver Nuggets won their home game against the Los Angeles Lakers with national team captain Dennis Schröder at the start of the Conference Finals. The number one seeded team around Nikola Jokic was temporarily 21 points ahead on Wednesday night (May 17th, 2023), but still had to tremble at the end of the game in the 132:126 against the record champions from Los Angeles.

Jokic, voted Most Valuable Player in the past two seasons of the North American professional basketball league, had 34 points. Anthony Davis was the top pitcher for the Lakers with 40 points.

Schröder with a very poor yield

Schröder started again and ended the game with just six points and five assists, Austin Reaves, who may play for the German national team in the future, had 23 points for the Lakers. “We were really good in the first half, we controlled the game, controlled everything”Jokic said on ESPN: “We lost that in the second half. They’re a really good team.”

Despite Davis’ good game and the team’s solid shooting rate, the Lakers only had a 2-0 lead right from the start and otherwise ran behind a huge deficit at times throughout the game.

Jokic collects an outstanding 21 rebounds

Jokic dominated with 21 rebounds and repeatedly forced two opponents to cover in attack – which gave his teammates good throwing opportunities. The visitors worked their way back in the second half. Lakers superstar LeBron James had 26 points and missed the equalizer with a three-point attempt at 126:129 45 seconds before the end.

“We knew they were coming, it’s a tough team. How close it was doesn’t make a difference in the end. A win is a win”said Jokic.

In the East, the Heat play the Celtics

In the best-of-seven series, a team needs four wins to advance to the NBA Finals and have a shot at the title. Both teams last faced each other in a conference final in 2020. At that time, the Lakers prevailed in the Corona bubble in Orlando and then won the 17th title in their history. In the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics determine the other finals participant. Game one in this series is Thursday night.