NBA Conference finals: Denver Nuggets on brink of NBA finals after 119-108 win over Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3
Jamal Murray scored 37 points, Nikola Jokic added 24, and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with a 119-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Win on Monday night and they'll finally get the chance to play for their first rings.
Sunday 21 May 2023 11:06, UK
Jamal Murray scored 37 points, Nikola Jokic added 24, and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with a 119-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
The Nuggets duo excelled down the stretch, repeatedly running a two-man pick-and-roll game suggested by "Coach Jokic," according to coach Michael Malone.
"This group is capable of doing great things, and they believe," Malone said. "Belief is a very powerful thing."
It's what their opponents will need a strong dose of as they hang from the precipice of elimination. LeBron James spoke of exactly that in the post-game press conference.
"I can't speak for the guys right now because I don't know what's going through all their minds, but I still (believe)," said James, who had 23 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.
"So it's time to go right back home, start the treatment process and recovery process, and get ready for Monday. My mindset is always locked in."
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Whether he will be a part of it is still up in the air. James, like the rest of his team, has looked tired and jaded. It seems as if the desperate surge since the trade deadline has finally run out of steam against a vastly superior side.
He might've had help in the form of Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis, but Rui Hachimura was the only other Lakers scorer to crack double figures with 13 points, and they couldn't counter the Nuggets' balanced effort down the stretch either.
"They've been at the top of the food chain for a reason, and have a plethora of guys that can hurt you, as was on full display tonight," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. "But you know, circumstances are what they are. Difficult, but not impossible."
Jokic's streak of four consecutive triple-doubles ended in a fairly quiet game for the two-time MVP, but his partner-in-crime reinforced Ham's words by scoring 17 points in a dynamic first quarter.
Hachimura came on to help break up the play, but the Lakers were chasing for the majority of the game and now have the mammoth task of doing what no team has done before in NBA history: come back from a 3-0 playoff series deficit.
"Our backs have been against the wall (for) probably about the last two months, maybe more than that since the trade deadline," Reaves said when asked about what might lie ahead.
"Swinging, throwing punches to fight to get to this opportunity. ... We can either come out Monday and go home, or we can fight for another day. And with the group of guys that we've got, I know what that answer will be."
