Nuggets on brink of NBA Finals with win over Lakers
Jamal Murray scored 37 points, Nikola Jokic added 24 points and eight assists, and the Denver Nuggets took a 3–0 lead in the Western Conference Finals with a 119–108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Dominating from start to finish, the Denver Nuggets are one win away from the 2023 NBA Finals, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 119-108 in Game 3 without an antidote to Jamal Murray’s first half and Nikola Jokic’s second Kentavius Caldwell- Pope (KCP).
Aside from falling behind by a point or two in the third quarter, the Nuggets never looked to threaten a result and the Lakers could find no way to stop their opponent despite 20-plus point contributions from Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Austin Reeves. .
These Are Some of the Keys to the Nuggets’ Win in Game 3 of the ‘Wild West’ Finals
Nikola Jokic celebrates during Game 3 of the Western Finals between the Nuggets and Lakers. Photo: Getty
1.- No Jokic, Yes (Party With) Murray
In the first two games, two-time MVP Nikola Jokic wreaked havoc on the Lakers’ defense in the opening game; However, for the third game, Jamal Murray kept up the momentum with which he closed out Game 2, recording 30 points in the first half, to which the Yellow and Purple had no answers.
In the second half, the Canadian point guard was ‘off’ and unsure, it was then that KCP and ‘Joker’ figures backed him up. Murray had just seven points in the final two quarters, but the former Laker KCP poured in 17 points and three rebounds in the third quarter, while Jokic slowly began to wreak havoc on opposing defenses and finished with a game-high 24 points. . , six boards and eight assistants.
2.- Lakers’ restlessness
Unlike they usually do when they’re local, on Saturday night, the Lakers looked a little daring and unsure of their assists. During the first half, Darwin Ham’s team lost seven balls to one of their opponent.
In addition, his top stats, LeBron James’ contribution from the arc was poor (throughout the series), the ‘King’ has skewed vision when he tries triples and went 3-9 to 3-19 in this game now. In the three matches played till date.
3.- ¿Y D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt?
The Lakers point guard and forward were blacked out in Game 3 and never made it to Crypto.com Arena (they are still being sought in the Los Angeles area). Russell left the game with three points, while Vanderbilt, who repeated as a starter, added two points. Their performance was so poor that none of them got more than 25 minutes on the court, so coach Haim was forced to use eight elements of the rotation, with Rui Hachumira being the most effective with 17 points.
Not only did the Nuggets steal the undefeated Lakers at home during the playoffs, but they put them up against the wall as they sweep Monday for a humiliating 4-0 result for ‘The King’ and his court.
