SUMMARY
- The Lakers had a 12 point lead over the Nuggets midway through Game 1.
- The Nuggets went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter to win the game.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have now lost their 9th straight game and 5th straight postseason game to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. As most NBA fans should be aware, the much-awaited postseason is finally underway with the Lakers and Nuggets facing off for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Since the Nuggets got the upper hand over the Lakers in recent times, Darvin Ham assured his team that they have a chance to change the past since the record was 0-0 once again. Now that the Nuggets have taken a 1-0 lead, Laker nation will undoubtedly want to know where things went wrong for their team.
LeBron James made a layup to give the Lakers a 12-point lead midway through the second quarter
In all fairness, the Lakers were able to keep up with the defending NBA champions for the first half of the game. Los Angeles. In fact, they had an 8-point lead at the end of the first quarter and extended the lead to 12 midway through the second quarter. LeBron James stole the ball and drove at the rim to finish a layup and give the Lakers a 49-37 lead over the Nuggets.
One could argue that the very reason for the Lakers to have control of the game initially was King James. He hit a three-pointer midway through the first quarter to turn a two-point Laker lead into a 5 point gap. He also cut to the rim on the very next possession and finished a reverse layup. Overall, LeBron had an efficient long-distance shooting night, going 3 of 5 from behind the line.
The Nuggets rallied and went on a 13-0 run to end the third quarter
Although the Lakers caught the Nuggets off guard and took control of the game in the early stages, the lead was not out of reach. Especially for the defending NBA champions. Led by Nikola Jokic’s elite play and basketball IQ, Denver crept back into this game and cut the Lakers’ lead down to 3 at the end of the 2nd quarter.
All the Nuggets had to do from then on was to keep the Los Angeles Lakers at bay and continue matching their scoring pace for the rest of the game. The match ended with Denver defending home court with a final score of 114-103.