Five to go: Jamal Murray shines with 37 points in Nuggets’ 119-108 win over Lakers in LA as LeBron & Co. faces a 3-0 hole with an impending series sweep
- Anthony Davis led the way for the Lakers in a loss with a 28-point double-double
- Jokic finished with 24 points after a slow start and foul problems
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Star point guard Jamal Murray scored 37 points, Nikola Jokic added 24 points and eight assists, and the Denver Nuggets rolled into a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals with a 119-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the Saturday night series.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half against his former team for the top-seeded Nuggets, who have never been closer to reaching the NBA Finals in their 47 years in the league.
Denver blew a big early lead in Game 3, but went on a decisive 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to snap the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak since March 26, which included seven consecutive wins since the end of the regular season.
No team in NBA history has recovered from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs. Game 4 is Monday night in Los Angeles.
Anthony Davis had 28 points and 18 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who had not lost three games in a row since early February.
Jamal Murray had another great performance in the Conference Finals with 37 points
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with a 28 performance, but was unable to force his team to a victory
Role players Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Michael Porter Jr. deliver solid performance
Los Angeles’ long-running desperate wave since the trade deadline is finally gathering steam against the powerhouse Nuggets, who have won five straight playoff games.
LeBron James had 23 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds for Los Angeles and hit three 3-pointers after starting the series 0 for 13 from distance.
Austin Reaves added 23 points and seven rebounds, but Rui Hachimura was the only other Lakers scorer to break double digits with 13 points.
Jokic’s streak of four consecutive triple-doubles ended in a fairly uneventful game for the two-time MVP.
But Murray scored 17 points in a dynamic first quarter after his 23-point fourth quarter two nights ago, and he had 30 points going into Game 3 halftime.
Bruce Brown scored 15 points and hit a vital 3-pointer down the stretch for the Nuggets before Jokic nearly put it to a 3-pointer with 3:17 left to play.
The Lakers’ passionate fans turned out in droves for the 17-time championship franchise’s first conference finals games at home since 2010, the year of their last title.
Los Angeles desperately tried to get back in the series, with James playing 43 minutes after spraining his left ankle in Game 2 on top of his already sore right foot.
But the Nuggets’ flight to the coast didn’t cool Murray: After firing the Lakers to close out Game 2, the Canadian guard made his first five shots in Game 3 and scored 17 points in the first quarter — even as Jokic went winless for the second quarter in a row.
Murray’s fourth 3-pointer of the night took him 11 of 13 off the field for 26 points midway through the second quarter, scoring more than half of Denver’s points at an incredible pace.
Reaves and Davis kept the Lakers in, with Reaves tallying 15 points, three assists and three rebounds in the second quarter alone.
Hachimura’s three-pointer early in the fourth inning gave the Lakers their first lead since the opening minutes, but the Nuggets took the lead again in a rally marked by Brown’s three-pointer with 7:02 to play, before hitting the Lakers’ bench with Los Angeles’ own “Freeze” 3-point celebration.
D’Angelo Russell had another tough game for the Lakers, scoring three points on 1-of-8 shooting in 20 minutes.
Russell was the Lakers’ biggest addition in their trade deadline transformation, but the point guard has just 21 points in this three-game series.