NBA Playoffs BROW BEATING
Lakers 105, Nuggets 103 • Davis’ buzzer- beating 3- pointer crushes Nuggets’ rally in Game 2 heartbreaker
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. » Nikola Jokic knew it.
After Jokic scrambled over to Anthony Davis in a last- ditch effort to contest The Brow’s 3pointer, Denver’s superstar said he could sense the outcome as the ball floated through the air.
“As soon as he shot the ball, he shot it really well,” Jokic said after the Lakers’ 105- 103 victory Sunday night. “Like, I kind of felt that it was going in. … Great players make great shots.”
Davis’ devastating 3- pointer crushed the Nuggets’ hopes of yet another dramatic second- half comeback and staked Los Angeles to a 2- 0 lead in the Western Conference Finals. It’s the first time in Denver’s last five playoff series that it’s faced a 2- 0 deficit heading into a Game 3, which is Tuesday night.
Before Davis’ dagger, Jokic had done everything within his power to will the Nuggets to a win. He’d scored 11 straight points after the Nuggets were trailing 100- 92 with less than three minutes remaining. His final bucket, a bully basket over Davis only moments earlier, had given the Nuggets the lead before the defining sequence.
Up 103- 102 with 2.1 seconds left, Nuggets center Mason Plumlee had entered the game and was covering Davis. Instead of trailing him around the arc as he peeled toward the in- bounder, Plumlee inexplicably changed course and got caught in the traffic of Jerami Grant and LeBron James. Plumlee appeared to call for the switch, which would’ve thrust Grant into Davis’ shooting window, but that exchange never came.
“We just had a little bit miscommunication,” Jokic said. “I think I had a really good contest, to be honest. I think I was right there.”
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said there were no moral victories despite his team’s resiliency in what would’ve been a fourth comeback from at least 15 points or more this postseason.
“Some guys like to win, some guys hate to lose,” Malone said. “I think we’re a group of guys that hate to lose. Whether it be by 20 something points in Game 1 or at the buzzer tonight, counts as the same.”
Jokic finished with 30 points and nine assists in the devastating loss. Jamal Murray added 25, but was one just 1- of- 5 from the field in the fourth quarter.
The Nuggets missed five free
throws in the final period, including four from reserve P. J. Dozier. The lanky guard had some huge defensive moments, and Malone showed immense trust in him down the stretch.
“He feels awful about the missed free throws,” Malone said.
LeBron James had 26 points and 11 rebounds, his first- half energy building the lead that the Nuggets nearly overcame. Davis scored 22 of his 31 in the second half, capped off by the stunning triple that saved Los Angeles’ collapse.
Down 16 with 8: 12 left in the third quarter, the Nuggets played with the composure of a team that had already made NBA history. They hung in despite a barrage of Davis jumpers and kept plugging away on offense with careful, methodical possessions. Murray led the charge with 10 points in the quarter, as he and Michael Porter Jr. found twine from 3- point range. On defense, they forced six turnovers and held the Lakers to just 42% shooting. The Nuggets closed on a 24- 12 run and faced just an 82- 78 deficit heading into the fourth.
It was the exact same tenacious approach they used in coming back from two 3- 1 deficits in the prior two rounds. Porter, in one of the most aggressive games he’s played in the postseason, had 15 points on 6- of- 9 from the field.
After reviewing film from Game 1, Malone felt there was nothing wrong schematically with his team’s approach. They just had to play better. Turnovers, transition defense and urgency were all emphasized between games.
The Lakers showed so much speed coming out of Game 1 that Malone said his team had to reconsider how hard to crash the offensive glass off their own misses.
“But it’s definitely been a point of emphasis having offensive rebounding discipline,” Malone said. “Four and five can work the glass. We want one, two and three back. For our five men, if they’re on the perimeter, don’t even take a step towards the rim, just get back.”
The Nuggets benefited from a clunky first half where whistles and technical fouls slowed the pace of the game dramatically. Los Angeles took a 60- 50 lead into halftime, which didn’t feel as large considering how many errors the Nuggets had made. They had 13 turnovers over the first two quarters, including many that were self- inflicted.