Lakers Nuggets Game 5
The Los Angeles Lakers, whose fate was hanging by a thread, finally pulled one back at home, and James and Davis teamed up to save the last face for the team. However, in Game 5 of the series, the Lakers will head to the Denver Plateau, and the Nuggets will definitely go all out when they return to their home court, and they don't want any surprises to happen. The Nuggets have seen the Zhan Mei combination in the knockout round, but the main reason for the team's loss is that their offense has not been fully played. Especially the second-in-command Murray, the series has not been very good so far.
Murray also suffered an injury in the last game, and it wasn't until before the game that the Nuggets announced that Murray was available. From here, you can see the Nuggets' determination to win the game. The Lakers also have good news, defensive titan Vanderbilt will be back in this game, which may not necessarily help, but it is also a good thing that Ham has an extra card.
James is good both offensively and defensively
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, Murray didn't look like he was playing with an injury at all, with 12 points and 1 steal on 4-of-9 shooting, 3 of 6 three-pointers, Jokic only had 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, plus 3 turnovers and 1 foul, but Reggie, who came off the bench, scored 5 points in a row, and the team scored 28 points in a single quarter, while the Lakers only scored 24 points, including Davis got 8 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist on 4-of-5 shooting, James only had 2 shots, 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Reaves had 6 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, but the team's three-point shot was only 2 of 10, which was unsatisfactory。
The Lakers are no longer obsessed with three-point shots, Russell throws and scores, Hayes makes two free throws, Porter Jr. responds with three points, James scores on a jumper, Reggie continues to score three points, the Nuggets lead by 5 points, Russell also scores three points in color, James plays 2+1, under the connection of Zhan Mei, Davis scores 6 points in a row, and the Lakers exceed 7 points. Porter Jr. made all three free throws, James scored on a jumper from the free throw line, Murray scored on a layup, Hachimura responded with a layup, and then hit one of two free throws. Jokic hit a hook shot under the basket, Russell scored a fast-break layup, Jokic turned over and threw up, and the difference was still 5 points.
James hit a three-point surge, Porter Jr. scored a layup, Murray faced Davis's defense, the layup continued to hit, James assisted Davis to score a basket, Gordon's bottom corner three-point finally opened, and the Lakers' last attack was too late to shoot. At the end of the half, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets by three points at 53-50.
Pope left the field injured
The Los Angeles Lakers completed the comeback at halftime, Davis shot 8 of 10, got 16 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, once again showing his dominance, James shot 4 of 8, also had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, as well as 3 steals, no turnover, and full Zhan really deserved his name. Reaves had 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, Russell had 7 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists, Hachimura had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, and the team only shot 4 of 16 from three-point range, but 16 of 29 from two-point range.
In the first half of the game, Murray scored 16 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists, and shot 3 of 8 from three-point range, scoring a team-high team. Jokic had just eight points, 11 rebounds and four assists, plus four turnovers. Porter Jr. was still sharp, with 11 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist on 3-of-5 shooting, Gordon had 5 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, and Reggie on the bench also had 8 points on 3-of-3 shooting. As for Pope, he didn't score a point on 0-of-4 shooting, suffered a broken foot in the first quarter, and returned to the court in the second quarter, but he didn't play long before returning to the locker room, and there is a high probability that he will not be able to continue playing in this game.