Nuggets rally in explosive 4th quarter, take 2-0 lead in West finals

Jamal Murray scored 23 of his 37 factors within the fourth quarter, propelling the Denver Nuggets to a 108-103 come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday evening for a 2-0 lead within the Western Convention finals.

Nikola Jokic had his thirteenth playoff triple-double with 23 factors, 17 rebounds and a dozen assists for the Nuggets, who’ve by no means been this near reaching the NBA Finals of their historical past.

Recreation 3 is Saturday evening at Crypto.com Area, the place LeBron James and the Lakers are 8-0 within the playoffs.

Jamal’s jumpers go down

Murray missed 12 of his 17 pictures by way of three quarters however discovered his contact within the fourth, going 6 for 7, together with 4 3-pointers and fueling a 15-1 run that gave Denver a 96-84 lead.

Similar to in Recreation 1, the Lakers did not go down simply. They pulled to 3 factors on Austin Reaves‘ jumper earlier than Murray sank two free throws with 12 seconds left and Bruce Brown stole the ball from James, then dribbled out the ultimate 8 seconds.

The Nuggets improved to 41-8 at residence, greatest within the NBA, together with 8-0 within the playoffs.

Lakers fade in Mile Excessive

James and Reaves each scored 22 for Los Angeles. Anthony Davis scored 18 after pouring in 40 within the opener and Rui Hachimura scored 21 factors off the bench.

For a lot of the evening, it appeared as if the Lakers would wrest home-court benefit from the Nuggets, who’re the highest seed for the primary time of their historical past. The Lakers gained the collection openers at Memphis and Golden State to achieve the convention championship.

The excellent protection Hachimura performed on Jokic within the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ loss in Recreation 1 led many to imagine coach Darvin Ham would begin Hachimura to attempt to stymie the Nuggets’ star middle from the beginning. However as a substitute he got here off the bench once more.

And what a spark he offered, sinking all seven of his first-half pictures for a game-high 17 factors on the half. His 3-pointer and pull-up jumper sparked a 9-0 run to open the second quarter and put the Lakers in cost regardless of sluggish begins from James and Davis, every of whom had been held to 2 factors within the first quarter.

James’ breakaway dunk made it 68-57 halfway by way of the third quarter, however the Nuggets received again into it with a 10-0 run and took their first lead because the first quarter when Murray‘s 3 made it 84-83.

His step-back 3 on the 7-minute mark made it 87-83. One other 3 made it 99-87, and he sank seven of eight free throws within the ultimate minute.

Tip-ins

Lakers: Los Angeles made 23 of 26 free throws. … Davis and James had been a mixed 13 of 36 from the ground.

Nuggets: The Nuggets had been miffed when ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters mentioned after Recreation 1 that she’d by no means seen Jokic play earlier than. … Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who scored 21 in Recreation 1, picked up his second foul 1:39 into the sport and sat the remainder of the primary quarter. … The Nuggets outscored the Lakers by 18 factors from the arc.