The Denver Nuggets started their game against the Los Angeles Lakers with both teams trading baskets, but things got out of hand midway through the first quarter. The two teams traded their first set of turnovers, and Denver was on the losing side as the Lakers took a nine-point lead with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. However, late in the quarter, Denver brought in some reinforcements, and they cut the Laker lead to make it a six-point game heading into the second quarter with Los Angeles leading 33-27.
In the second quarter, there was a lot of trade. Denver would have a shot to go down, but they couldn’t force a miss on the other end. LA increased its lead to 11 with just under seven minutes left in the half, but Denver responded and started chipping away. Denver’s defense continued to struggle and they couldn’t put the lid on Los Angeles as the Lakers continued to rain 3-point shots on their heads. Denver scored eight points before halftime, but they needed some stops in the second half if they wanted to come away with a victory in this one.
In the third quarter, Denver did what it has done for much of the year. They took things to another level and just outplayed the Lakers in this quarter. After trailing by eight to start the quarter, Denver finished the quarter tied at 89 after some hot shooting from Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray. Denver wasn’t getting much offense from its reserves, but its starters looked ready to carry the load in this one.
By the fourth quarter, Denver was ready to let go of the final blows and put this one to rest. Both teams traded baskets for the first eight minutes of the quarter, but Denver came up big to finish the game. After a LeBron James basket with 4:11 left to give the Lakers a two-point lead, Denver went on a 16-4 run to close out the game over the final four minutes of action. Of their 124 total points, 92 of them came from their top four players, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic, MPJ and Murray, including an incredible 10-of-10 shooting night from MPJ. Denver swept the season series with tonight’s win and, including the playoffs, they have won eight straight meetings in this series. LeBron scored his 40,000 points tonight, but Denver is the team celebrating the end of it.
