By Jovan Buha, Nick Kosmider and Tony Jones
The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-103 in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday at home behind a strong second-half shooting performance, taking a 2-0 series lead. Here’s what you need to know:
- Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 37 points — 23 of them in the fourth quarter — on 11-of-24 shooting, including six 3s. Nikola Jokić put together a 23-point, 17-rebound, 12-assist outing, moving into third all-time in playoff triple-doubles (13).
- LeBron James and Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 22 points each. Rui Hachimura added 21 off the bench, helping the Lakers to a five-point halftime lead.
- Los Angeles went 23-of-26 from the free-throw line while Denver was 16-of-18.
- Game 3 is Saturday at 8:30 pm ET in Los Angeles.
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The adjustment is paying dividends for the Nuggets
Nuggets coach Michael Malone changed the rest pattern for Jokić and it paid off for Denver. Usually, the two-time MVP rests at the start of the fourth quarter. With the Nuggets trailing 79-76 entering the final period, Malone opted to leave Jokić on the floor. The presence of Jokić, who drew a lot of attention from the Los Angeles defense, helped start the all-time fourth-quarter flurry from Murray, who had 23 points in the period.
When Jokić hit the bench at the 9:38 mark of the fourth quarter for a two-minute break and the Nuggets were down by two, Murray’s heater got off to a great start, helping Denver prevail in a tough stretch if its superstar center is absent. That Denver prevailed without a field goal from Jokić in the final period was a testament to Murray’s intelligence and Denver’s resilience in Game 2. — Kosmider
With how important Game 2 was, Malone squeezed his rotation a bit, for the first time in the postseason. He actually played nine men when he normally plays eight. But, Reggie Jackson played just three minutes — due to foul trouble with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — and rookie Christian Braun played just over four minutes. Jeff Green played 15 minutes, but it was essentially a six-man game, with Bruce Brown playing 37 minutes off the bench.
Jokić played the entire third quarter and played the fourth quarter for the first time in the series. Malone said he made that decision because the Lakers went on a 10-0 run in non-Jokić minutes in the second quarter. “We got tired at the end of the game,” Murray said. “We can tell they are tired too.” — Jones
LA settles with mixed results
LA overhauled its starting group after two disastrous stints in Game 1. The new group — the normal starting lineup of Anthony Davis, James, Jarred Vanderbilt, Reaves and D’Angelo Russell — was better, but still outplayed. them by three points in 14 minutes, per NBA.com. The Lakers also put James on Jokić for some of the third quarter and most of the fourth, which worked well as James played a key role in holding the two-time MVP to 9-for-21 shooting.
The Lakers had no answer for Murray, however, as he went nuclear with 23 points in the fourth quarter. Every time Hachimura and Dennis Schroder checked on him, Murray calmed down in pick-and-roll and dribble hand-off actions. His shot-making against an array of defenders was special – and the difference in what had been a close game. — Buha
Lakers running on empty
The Lakers looked gassed as this game wore on, the cumulative effect of a two-month ramp-up — LA typically played with playoff-like intensity for eight straight weeks before the Play-In game — in a conference finals run. Add to that the every-other-day nature of the previous two rounds, the altitude, Denver’s uptempo style of play, the rotating two-man game of Jokić and Murray, and the Lakers had little left in the tank when the Nuggets. the fourth. They didn’t get the point-blank shots at the rim and open-open 3s down the stretch of the game that they usually do. They are last in rebounds and loose balls. With their season in Game 3 — no team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit — they have 48 hours to figure out a way to combat their fatigue. — Buha
A statement win by Denver?
The chip on the Nuggets’ shoulder is as wide as anyone out there. Now, with a 2-0 lead, Malone questioned the national narrative that suggested the Lakers “found something” in their Game 1 loss on Tuesday night. Jokić said “We don’t need the media attention,” but the Nuggets were clearly annoyed that their Game 1 win wasn’t the story that came out of Game 1. In the locker room, Denver tried to downplay how big a motivator. it is, but it really plays a role.
Now, Denver turns its attention to Saturday’s Game 3, where a win would allow the Nuggets to put a stranglehold on the series. — Jones
Highlights of the game
Key stats
Jokić became the first player in NBA postseason history with four consecutive 20-point triple-doubles, per ESPN Stats & Info. He scored 34 points in Game 1, 32 in Game 6 of the conference semifinals against Phoenix and 29 in Game 5.
Required reading
(Photo: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)
