Follow Southern California Newspaper Group’s Kyle Goon as he covers the Lakers Inside the Bubble in Orlando. Updates and social media reaction of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals best-of-seven playoff series between the Lakers and Nuggets. The Lakers lead the series, 2-1. Tip-off at 6 p.m. PREVIEWS AND WHAT THEY’RE SAYING BEFORE THE…
What they’re saying before Lakers, Nuggets, Game 4 — Press Telegram
Jamal Murray attacked from the opening tip and set the tone for Denver.
Attacking Jamal Murray sparks Nuggets, who hold off Lakers for Game 3 win — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports
By Kurt HelinSep 23, 2020, 1:05 AM EDT
Down 0-2 to a LeBron James team, the Denver Nuggets backs were against the wall.
The Lakers learned — like the Jazz and Clippers before them — that the Nuggets have a couple more gears when their season is threatened.
Jamal Murray attacked from the opening tip, set the tone for Denver, then when the Lakers made it interesting late, stuck the dagger in the Los Angeles.
Murray POURING IT ON 🤯 pic.twitter.com/lqHEAhVSfw
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) September 23, 2020
“I didn’t have any doubt we were going to show up tonight,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said postgame. “The reason I didn’t have any doubt is we won six straight elimination games…
“For some reason, this team loves the bubble.”
Denver pulled away from the Lakers in the second quarter and held on at the end to take a 114-106 win in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
The Lakers still lead the series 2-1, with Game 4 Thursday night.
Murray was the best player on the floor in Game 3, scoring 28 points, dishing 12 assists, grabbing eight rebounds, and forcing the Lakers’ defense to adjust to him.
“When you look at these three series we’ve played so far, he’s starting to get the respect from the other teams, and they’re game-planning, they’re blitzing him, they’re double-teaming.”
Both Denver and the Lakers came out attacking the paint early: The teams combined for 56 first-quarter points, and they scored 34 of them in the paint (60.7%)
In the second quarter, however, the Lakers started settling for jumpers while the Nuggets kept attacking. Denver went on a 15-2 run to start the quarter — with Nikola Jokic on the bench — and Denver went on to dominate the next two quarters, leading by as many as 20.
The Nuggets got a big night from Jerami Grant, who had career playoff hight 26 points. Jokic added 22 plus 10 rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Lakers could not get jump shots to fall. Los Angeles was 6-of-26 from three (23.1%), and worse, they scored 12 points on 24 spot-up shot attempts (stat via Synergy Sports).
LeBron James did his part — a triple-double of 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists — and Anthony Davis added 27, but the Lakers defensive energy, and with that transition buckets, were not there.
Until the fourth quarter.
The Lakers got much more physical and aggressive defensively, and the Lakers went on a 19-2 run, which included six straight Nuggets turnovers at one point. The Lakers went to a zone defense that flummoxed Denver.
Eventually, Murray and Jokic righted the ship. Denver stretched the lead back out and got the win. After the game, the Lakers to a man said they needed to bring that fourth-quarter energy all game on Thursday.
One thing talked about after the game was Murray’s elbow to LeBron.https://www.youtube.com/embed/TwTpUdrGXZE
“I don’t think it was blatant. I don’t know his mindset, but I don’t think he did it on purpose,” LeBron said postgame.
The other thing talked about postgame — now we have a series.
Tags: Anthony Davis, Jamal Murray, Jerami Grant, LeBron James, Nikola JokicLeave a commen
Is it fair to say now that Sunday’s frantic finish was not much more than fool’s gold for the Lakers? Anthony Davis’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer to knock off Denver in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals camouflaged some issues with turnovers, fouls, defensive breakdowns and general sloppiness. Frank Vogel hoped those flaws, pointed out in…
Alexander: No, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis did not break Denver’s spirit — Press Telegram
It’s one thing to get dragged behind the woodshed. It’s another to ball out, as these Nuggets did Sunday, to leave everything out there, to clean up old mistakes, to get stops, to force turnovers, to get to the line, to surpass the Lakers’ intensity … … and then have Anthony Davis plunge a dagger in between your shoulder blades.
Keeler: Anthony Davis just ripped out the Nuggets’ hearts. And it feels like basketball gods have finally turned their backs on Michael Malone. — The Denver Post
Davis said shots like his game winner in Game 2 of the WCF were one of the reasons he wanted to leave New Orleans for the Lakers.
Anthony Davis On His Buzzer Beater: ‘I Want The Big Time Plays’ — UPROXX
he Los Angeles Lakers trailed 103-102 with 2.1 seconds to play in Game 2 of their Western Conference Finals matchup with the Nuggets after having seen Denver erase a 16-point deficit in the second half — as has become a regular occurrence for Denver this postseason.
On their final inbounds play, L.A. put their two superstars into the action and made Denver make a quick and difficult decision. The result was Mason Plumlee going to LeBron James, who was already being faceguarded by Jerami Grant, leaving Davis with an open catch and window to shoot a deep three at the buzzer in front of a hard closeout from the side by Nikola Jokic. Davis, who was 1-for-3 on threes to that point in the game, buried the shot and gave L.A. a 105-103 win (and a 2-0 series lead).
AD WINS IT AT THE BUZZER.
OH MY. pic.twitter.com/Um2uWqjmZR
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 21, 2020
After the game, Davis explained that the opportunity to take that shot in that moment was the driving factor in why he wanted to go to the Lakers when he issued his trade request from New Orleans, telling Allie LaForce he “wants the big time plays” and elaborating to reporters later that he knew this was the stage and the championship chase L.A. would afford him.
“I want those shots. I want the big-time plays.”
AD discusses his game-winning shot with @ALaForce after Game 2. pic.twitter.com/ndcX3flI4M
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) September 21, 2020
Lakers’ Anthony Davis on Game 2 winner over Nuggets: “It’s for sure the biggest shot of my career. When I left (New Orleans) I just wanted to compete for a championship. I know moments like this come with it. Especially being in LA, the biggest market in basketball.” pic.twitter.com/5FMsig4n9u
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) September 21, 2020
Given that the biggest remaining question Davis faced as a player was whether he could take and make these kinds of shots on a championship caliber team, taking the lead in a situation when LeBron James didn’t have it down the stretch, he answered that with an exclamation point on Sunday. Davis was the only Laker to score in the final five minutes of the game, including both of his three-pointers on the night.
It was a sensational performance, further cementing his position as not just one of the league’s most elite talents but as a player capable of stepping up on the big stage and knocking down a critical shot. As the Lakers move forward, that ability, when the focus shifts from defenses to slowing down LeBron James, will be critical in L.A.’s ability to take the Larry O’Brien trophy home from Disney to Los Angeles.
If anything is going to take the wind out of the sails of the never-quit Nuggets, you’d think this could be it. Anthony Davis’ arcing 3-pointer at the buzzer not only gave the Lakers a 105-103 victory in Game 2 of Sunday’s Western Conference Finals series, but it control-shift-deleted all of Denver’s painstaking work to…
Could Anthony Davis’ game-winner knock the wind out the never-say-die Denver Nuggets? — Press Telegram
Nuggets rookie Michael Porter Jr. didn’t expect the backlash that came from his postgame comments after Denver fell behind the Clippers 3-1 last round.
How Nuggets rookie Michael Porter Jr. gained Michael Malone’s trust — The Denver Post
With one comeback after another in the playoffs, the Denver Nuggets showed themselves to be a team that falls down but doesn’t stay down. The Los Angeles Lakers noticed. They watched the Nuggets repeatedly rally from big deficits against Utah and then the Los Angeles Clippers — and, obviously, are aware that the Jazz and…
Lakers vow not to let up against resilient Nuggets — Boston Herald
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — If Denver coach Mike Malone and LeBron James are friends now, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, Malone said, it was probably his willingness to be hard on the budding Cleveland star that helped earn him respect. For five years as a Cavaliers assistant under Mike Brown, Malone was…
Denver’s Mike Malone pushed LeBron James to be better in Cleveland — Daily News
Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, from left, Kostas Antetokounmpo, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard, right, shout at members of the Denver Nuggets on the court during the first half an NBA conference final playoff basketball game Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard…
Lakers start strong this time, blow out Nuggets in Game 1 — Press Telegram
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — At this point, the Denver Nuggets aren’t going to catch anyone off guard. And they don’t expect to. After watching film of the Lakers on Thursday afternoon, Nikola Jokic — one of the engines of Denver’s pair of historic 3-1 comebacks — came away with the impression that the top-seeded…
Lakers ready to take Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets seriously in Western Conference Finals — Press Telegram
Reggie Miller’s head says the NBA’s Western Conference Finals are LeBron’s to lose. But his heart? Man, after watching the Nuggets for the last three weeks, his heart’s about a mile high right now.
Reggie Miller on Nuggets-Lakers: “Don’t go to sleep on the Denver Nuggets. Don’t. Do not do it.” — The Denver Post
The view from left field 