DENVER — Jamal Murray sized up The King and decided he wasn’t afraid of the crown.
Already on a torrid run of devastating daggers, Murray hoisted one more in LeBron James’ face, burying a 30-foot 3-pointer to whip Ball Arena into a chaotic frenzy Thursday night Murray’s scintillating 23-point fourth quarter built the Nuggets a double-digit lead, and it took everything they had not to squander it amid egregious turnovers.
The Nuggets, though, owe no apologies. Their 108-103 win at Ball Arena staked them a 2-0 series lead in this Western Conference Finals before the series flips to Los Angeles for Saturday’s Game 3.
In the final moments, a raucous “Beat L.A,” chant boomed throughout the lower bowl.
Murray finished with 37 points, raining in four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter alone. For three quarters, he’d been mostly contained, shooting 5 for 17.
Nikola Jokic registered another triple-double, dumping in 23 points, snatching 17 rebounds and dishing 12 assists. It was his fourth consecutive triple-double of the playoffs.
Lakers’ big man Anthony Davis managed only 18 points on 4 for 15 from the field, and James finished with 22 points, including 0 for 6 from 3-point range. Nuggets guard Bruce Brown stripped James with seconds left in the fourth quarter to seal it.
Everything was a slow, tedious slog for the Nuggets to start the third quarter. Their defense didn’t engage, and for a moment, it looked like a replay of the third quarter in Game 1. The Lakers had successfully stymied Denver’s attack with their length and built an 11-point lead midway through the third as James did his damage in transition.
But once the Nuggets started generating stops, their offensive chances started flowing. Michael Porter Jr. buried a transition 3-pointer in the corner, and then Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sunk another. Brown scored on back-to-back buckets, then appeared to let the Lakers’ bench hear about it. When Jokic scored off a Davis goaltend at the third quarter buzzer, the Nuggets had finally found some moxie. Entering the fourth, they trailed just 79-76.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone had heard enough about the Lakers’ effective Game 1 adjustment that pitted Rui Hachimura against Jokic in the fourth quarter.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever been in a series up 1-0, and the series is over in everybody’s eyes because they put Rui on Nikola Jokic for six possessions,” Malone said before the game.
Regardless of what defensive coverages the Lakers threw at Jokic, Malone insisted the two-time MVP would solve the riddles in real time.
“And that’s the thing I probably admire about him most, he never goes into a game or a possession with a premeditated notion of this is what I’m doing because he’s going to read how the defense is guarding him and us,” Malone said.
Heading to halftime down 53-48, Jokic wasn’t close to the problem over the first two quarters. With 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Jokic was well on his way to another triple-double. He navigated double-teams by Hachimura and Davis to spearhead Denver’s offense.
Murray struggled mightily through three quarters, as the Lakers opted to deploy new starter Jarred Vanderbilt on him, and Denver’s offense failed to initiate except in transition opportunities. When those came, off turnovers and quality defensive possessions, the chances opened up.
Jokic beat the Lakers’ defense with a full-court touchdown to Murray for a dunk. Another break yielded a Caldwell-Pope 3-pointer, and yet another opportunity resulted in a Jokic feed to Aaron Gordon for a jam.
While James was more impactful than Davis early, his flubbed fastbreak dunk gave the Nuggets a fortuitous break. Hachimura’s 17 first-half points swung the second-unit edge in the Lakers’ favor.
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