On May 23, Beijing time, the fourth game of the Western Final. In the end, the Nuggets swept the Lakers 4-0 to advance to the Finals, breaking the curse of the Western Conference and reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in team history in 47 years.
Break the curse of the West
With a 3-0 lead, the Nuggets are already on the door to the Finals with one foot. In this fourth matchup between the two sides, the Nuggets naturally hope to win quickly, sweep their opponents, and close the series.
Looking back at the history of the Nuggets' past Finals, the Lakers have been the last mountain in front of them three times. They have reached the Western Conference finals four times before, reaching their first division final in 1977-78, losing 4–2 to the SuperSonics.
Since then, they have faced the Lakers in three Western Conference finals, and as a result, the Nuggets lost to the Lakers all three times, losing 1-4 in the 1984-85 season. In the 2008–09 season, he lost 4–2. In the 2019-20 season, he lost 1-4. And the Lakers passed this hurdle and eventually won the championship.
But this time, the Nuggets rewrote history, finally breaking the curse of the Western Finals, sweeping the Lakers 4-0 to advance and reach the Finals for the first time in team history.
Jokic had no solution
After trailing by 15 points in the first half, the Nuggets returned in the second half with Jokic leading the rally. Throughout the third quarter, he shot 4-of-8 from the field, 5-of-6 from the free-throw line, and recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block. By the end of the third quarter, Jokic had a luxurious triple-double of 23 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. Throughout the game, Jokic had 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists.
It was Jokic's eighth triple-double in a single playoff game, surpassing Oxlade-Chamberlain (7) in eight playoff games in a single year to rise to all-time number one and his eighth personal triple-double in the playoffs this year. In addition, this is his third triple-double.
Civilian lineup
Despite owning Jokic, in fact this Nuggets can be said to be quite "civilian". Jokic failed to win the MVP, which is equivalent to saying that this team did not have the MVP of the season, nor the best defensive team, there was no best first-team player, there was no best sixth man, only 1 All-Star and 1 player were selected to the All-NBA Second Team, but it was such a lineup that made it to the Finals. It also proves how good this Nuggets' team basketball is.