In the wake of a still incandescent Jamal Murray, author of 17 points at 8/10 on shots in the first quarter, and thanks to clumsy Lakers (7/23 on shots), the Nuggets easily take control of the match (32-20). LeBron James then begins to dissect the defense of Denver, putting Anthony Davis, Lonnie Walker and Rui Hachimura in value, to revive Los Angeles. But three award-winning shots from Murray keep the Lakers at bay (51-41).
Despite Murray’s festival, the other Nuggets are only 9 of 24 on shots, with Nikola Jokic limited to 5 points. The Lakers then take the opportunity to pick up thanks to 15 points from Austin Reaves and they return to the locker room at -3 (58-55).
Two award-winning shots from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope wake up Denver to start the second half but Anthony Davis takes advantage of Jokic’s three fouls to attack the Serb and provoke his fourth to return to equality (71-71)! The Nuggets stop the bleeding with two stray fly balls from Reaves and Russell, and eight points from the duo Michael Porter Jr – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but the first two 3-pointers in the series for LeBron James keep LA at -2 ( 84-82).
The Nuggets sign a fatal 13-0!
A 3-pointer from Rui Hachimura to open the final period gives the Lakers the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. The Nuggets do not panic and respond with 7 points from Nikola Jokic defended by the Japanese, followed by a 13-0 thanks to three award-winning shots from Jeff Green, Bruce Brown, and Jamal Murray after a festival of extra passes (106-94 )!
Despite a third 3-pointer from LeBron James, Nikola Jokic drove the point home with 15 points in this last quarter to validate a convincing victory for the Nuggets. In the history of the playoffs, no team has come back from a 3-0 deficit. Mike Malone’s men are on the verge of reaching their first Finals in franchise history.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Jamal Murray on cloud nine. In the tough in the first three quarters of Game 2, Murray caught fire in the final quarter, scoring 23 points on 6/7 on shots, and 4/5 on three points. The trip to Los Angeles did not put him off, quite the contrary! Murray started the game by scoring his first 5 shots to score 17 points in the first quarter, followed by 13 in the second period. Whether it’s Vandrebilt, Schroeder, Russell, and even LeBron James, the Lakers’ defense couldn’t do anything against the Canadian leader. The latter had 30 of his team’s 58 points at the break with 65% success!
— Better for the Lakers but a big black spot. To be able to claim victory against Denver, the Lakers had to dominate in the keyhole and in free throws, two areas where the Nuggets had been tied in the first two games. For this Game 3, Darvin Ham had given the instruction to play inside and attack the circle. LeBron James and Anthony Davis camped low for three quarters, and the Lakers finished at +14 in the key (52-38). They also took 10 free throws more than their opponents, and dominated the offensive rebound. Unfortunately for them, their 12 stray balls gave Denver 13 points, and the Nuggets, more skilful on the night, won the battle for possessions to make the difference.
— Nikola Jokic wakes up at the best time. Transparent in the first half against the good defense of the Lakers, the Serb had taken only one shot from the circle and was 1/5 in the racket before returning to the locker room. He also only had 4 assists and 2 rebounds, far from his usual standard. He received his fourth foul after four minutes of play in the third quarter, but his teammates limited the breakage, allowing him to come back into play in the last period with Denver at +2. The double MVP then pulled out all the stops. While he hadn’t scored a single basket in the last two quarters of this series, Jokic punished Hachimura, orphan of Anthony Davis, to start the period before killing Lakers defense with reverse pick & roll with Jamal Murray. He finished the final quarter with 15 points at 5/7 on shots, including 3/3 from the circle and 4/5 from the key, to put the lid on his team’s victory.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Jamal Murray. The point guard scored 30 of his 37 points in the first half. This is his third game in a row with more than 30 points! He also added 7 rebounds and provided 6 assists. The Lakers have no answer for the Canadian!
✅ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – Bruce Brown – Michael Porter Jr. With Jokic on the bench in the third quarter and a mute Murray, all three players were instrumental in keeping Denver up front. KCP finished with 17 points at 4/7 from 3-point range. Brown finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. And MPJ added 14 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 award-winning shots!
✅ LeBron James – Austin Reaves. The King started the game by going to a low post to force the Nuggets defense to react. That’s how he was able to deliver 12 assists. He also added 23 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Reaves continues his dream playoffs with 23 points at 7/10 on shots, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists).
✅ ⛔ Nikola Jokic. After three dying quarters, the Joker woke up in the last twelve minutes, like Murray in Game 2, to score 15 of his 24 points. He also distributed 8 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds and dominated Anthony Davis to lead his team to victory.
✅ ⛔ Anthony Davis. Davis finished with a monstrous double-double (28 points and 18 rebounds)! He notably allowed his team to come back to the score in the third quarter thanks to his 11 points. But he was transparent in the last twelve minutes, dominated by Nikola Jokic.
⛔ D’Angelo Russell. The leader continues his way of the cross in this conference final. That night he only played 20 minutes, enough time for him to miss 7 of his 8 shots and lose 3 balls. He is -53 overall in the series and it would be logical to see Darvin Ham prefer Dennis Schroeder to him to start Game 4.
THE FOLLOWING
Game 4 in Los Angeles in the night from Monday to Tuesday (02:30).
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D= defensive rebound; T = Total Bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Points = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
