This Denver Nuggets they kept the home factor after winning 103-108 A new game with a tight ending against Los Angeles Lakers and put 2-0 West final. The Colorado team relied on 37 points and 10 rebounds from Jamal Murray, who played mediocre (14 points after only 5 of his 17 shots in the first three quarters) but woke up with 23 points in the final quarter. a spectacular 6-on-7 shot from the field to despair the Angelenos, who had dominated until then. Jokic had a new triple-double with 23 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists and 3 steals. Michael Porter Jr. 16 points and 7 rebounds, Bruce Brown contributed 12.
Despite LeBron James’ 6 three-pointers for the Lakers (22 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists to reach 2,000 in the ‘play-offs’), Austin Reaves added 22 more and Hachimura collaborated with 21 points. , but the angels paid the price for Anthony Davis’ bad night, which, despite finishing with acceptable numbers (18 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks) and good defence, was disappointing with 4 on 15 shots. In fact, with the exception of the Reaves (5 out of 9) the Lakers performed very poorly from beyond the arc, placing 3 out of 21.
The match started very balanced for both teams. Equilibrium was the dominant tone of the first quarter and closed with the win, either because the Lakers realized their mistake in the first game or because Denver was unable to sustain last Tuesday’s spectacular success and unifying play. 27-27 which gave a good picture of how tight everything was. This period left an unusual image in the NBA, with both teams protesting in an unusual way, blaming the referees for every decision they made. Also striking was the flagrant foul played by D’Angelo Russell after he vigorously but without malice defended a penetration into Murray’s counterattack. The referees reviewed the game on video and although the game didn’t seem like it deserved it, they eventually whistled against Angelenos’ #1.
The second quarter was very different from the first with two clearly separate episodes. The start was purple and gold, with a 20-9 start 47-36 this beautiful side of the Lakers in the light had the name and surname of Rui Hachimura. The Japanese player came in from the bench with a spectacular 7/7 and 2/2 free throws and scored a remarkable 17 at halftime. However, when the Japanese sat down, a shower of mistakes started by the Lakers, who missed 10 shots in a row and allowed Denver to come close to a point (49-48). Reached by break 53-48 After a final move by Angelenos (17 in 41 innings) who won the quarter 26-21.
The Los Angeles folks dispersed their offense much more, and Hachimura was the only player on the team to score more than 10 points. LeBron was 10th with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Davis shot a depressing 6 out of 6 despite 7 points, and Reaves had 9 points in 3 despite 10 shooting. Denver, on the other hand (19 out of 47), counted on their magical duo: Jokic was already close to a double-double with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 6/10 shooting, and Murray finished with 10 points and 5 assists but an alarming 3 out of 13. .
The third quarter followed similar paths to the first quarter. The first 9 minutes passed with both teams’ mutual baskets, with the Lakers going between 6 and 11 points, but neither team obviously making it to the game. A new blackout from the Angelenos on the offensive then led to a 10-0 run for Denver, which 74-74 in the light, but it dried up before the natives took the lead and the Lakers finished fourth. 79-76 after the referees signaled Anthony Davis to go to goal, preventing Jokic from slapping the bell.
But for the Californians, the worst was yet to come. Denver started the last quarter with a massive 5-20, which meant a quarterback of 10-32, which accumulated at the end of the third quarter and set the score. 84-96caught in the awakening of Jamal Murray. The Nuggets quarterback revealed the jar of misses and after falling asleep for three-quarters (14 points and 5/17 shooting) finished Angelenos with 23 points. The Lakers pulled the cast and forced a 12-2 run, leaving the light in a very tight finish (99-101). The decisive shots didn’t go away, however, and Murray’s free throws debunked the purples and golds, who signed two very complete games and played to the end but won 2-0 against Los Angeles. connect the series.