Game 4 of the series
Without any surprises, the Los Angeles Lakers came to the edge of the cliff, and the series was down 0-3 with no way back. James has fallen behind 0-3 in the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his career, and sometimes you have to face the reality, even though you were once the first person in the league, although you are still standing on the top of Huashan, but there will always be latecomers in this league, they are younger and more energetic. This series G4, if the Lakers can't win, then it's the last game of the season.
The Nuggets, who hold the match point, naturally have no pressure, but the team doesn't want to dream too much at night, after all, the Nuggets have not won the past three games. In this game, the Lakers' backup center Wood ushered in a comeback, and if Van der Biao also returns, it will only be more difficult for the Nuggets to win.
Lakers vs. Nuggets
At the beginning of the first quarter, the Lakers were full of momentum, Davis got 8 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist, James also had 6 points, 2 assists and 2 steals, Reaves was 6 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, the team scored 28 points in a single quarter, while the Nuggets only scored 23 points, including Jokic 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Porter Jr. 7 points and 3 rebounds, and Murray also had 6 points and 1 assist. After returning from the game in the second quarter, the Lakers continued to exert their strength, Davis scored another 9 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, James 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, Reaves also had 7 points and 4 assists, and the Lakers scored 33 points in a single quarter.
Jokic played steadily, scoring 7 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists, and Murray also had 6 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, but the Nuggets only scored 25 points as a team, and at halftime, the Lakers led the Nuggets by 13 points at 61-48. In the second half, the Nuggets fought again, Jokic got 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Porter Jr. scored 15 points on 5 of 7 shots, and the team scored 32 points in a single quarter, but the Lakers did not let the plot play out again, Davis got 6 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, Russell 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, and the team also scored 30 points in a single quarter and continued to maintain an 11-point lead.
In the final quarter that decided the outcome of the game, Russell assisted James to catch a dunk in the air, and then hit a three-point surge, and the Lakers once stretched the difference to 19 points. The Nuggets did not give up and narrowed the gap to 11 points in one go, and James scored four points in a row to stabilize the situation. Pope hit a three-pointer and Murray made a layup, bringing the margin back to single digits. James continued to score on a layup, Jokic was 2+1 again, Reaves scored on a jumper, and Gordon made a dunk in the air, but it was too late. In the end, the Los Angeles Lakers successfully defeated the Denver Nuggets 119-108, and the series score was rewritten to fall behind 1-3.
The Lakers refused to sweep
The Los Angeles Lakers finally won a series, and while it was hard to change the final outcome, at least from this game, the Lakers ended an 11-game losing streak against the Nuggets. James and Davis led by example, Russell and Reaves stepped up, and this Lakers team didn't give up. After the whole game, James made 14 of 23 shots, got 30 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, and scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the final quarter, while Davis had 25 points, 23 rebounds and 6 assists, with an efficient shooting rate of 11 of 17.
In addition, Russell also had 21 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists on 8-of-15 shooting, Reaves also had 21 points, 1 rebound and 6 assists on 7-of-15 shooting, and the team scored 20+ points with 4 players, and Hachimura and Prince each scored 9 points. On the Nuggets' side, Jokic's personal performance was still excellent, with a triple-double of 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists on 10-of-20 shooting, Porter Jr. also had 27 points and 11 rebounds, Murray had 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, but the shooting rate was only 9-of-23, Pope was 14 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists on 6-of-8 shooting, and Gordon lost his magic, only 7 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists on 3-of-7 shooting.