The Nuggets are now on the verge of sweeping Lakers again
Apr 25, 2024, 10:43 PM | Updated: Apr 30, 2024, 3:24 am
Same series, same result—the Denver Nuggets are now on the verge of sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers for the second-straight season, winning Thursday’s Game 3 112-105.
The Nuggets have now beaten the Lakers 11 straight times going back to the end of last year’s regular season. And because of the Joker, the King’s last hope at establishing a new dynasty has fallen to the emerging kingdom of Nikola Jokic.
The star big man of the Nuggets led the charge with a near triple-double of 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. But it was Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon, who stood out massive for Michael Malone’s group. The two forwards took it to a gassed Lakers team. MPJ notched 20 points and 10 rebounds on 16 shots while Gordon tallied playoff career highs of 29 points and 15 rebounds.
“It’s not about our opponent it’s about what we do,” Gordon told the broadcast after the game. “The guys in our locker room, we’re focused on being great.”
LeBron James was pretty solid on offense in the game 26 points and nine assists, but he was the primary defender on Gordon—who was the difference maker. And not even 33 points and 15 rebounds from Anthony Davis turned the tides.
Jamal Murray added 22 points and nine assists while D’Angelo Russell scored zero points on seven shots.
The win to go up 3-0 in the series followed the familiar pattern of Denver coming from behind to win. on Thursday, the Nuggets were down 12 in the first half before coming back to make it tight at halftime then extending throughout the course of the second half.
“We don’t like that, we don’t want that to be our trademark, fighting back,” Gordon said on TNT. “We need quicker starts.”
Denver’s domination again on the glass, coupled with a Lakers team who just couldn’t hit were the areas the Nuggets won big. The Nuggets went plus-13 on the boards while L.A. only shot 18.5% from deep.
No team in NBA Playoff history has ever lost a seven-game series when up three games to none. The record in all of postseason history is 112-0. The Nuggets have only one sweep in franchise history—last year’s Western Conference Finals win over the Lakers. Game 4 is on Saturday and will be broadcast on ABC at 6:30.
