LOS ANGELES (AP) — With one championship ring and a tenacious veteran core, the Denver Nuggets are a formidable opponent for any opponent in the NBA.
This game is clearly a nightmare for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, as Denver extends their winning streak to a whopping 11 games in this lopsided rivalry, with one game left until early summer.
Aaron Gordon set a playoff career high with 29 points and 15 rebounds, Nikola Jokic added 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, and the Nuggets beat the Lakers 112-105 in Game 3, putting them on the brink of advancing to the second round. I advanced the piece until. Their first round series will be played Thursday night.
Jamal Murray scored 22 points to help the defending NBA champion Nuggets win their seventh straight playoff matchup against James and the Lakers in dominant style. Denver rebounded from double-digit deficits in all three games, and the Nuggets went out of their way after Game 3 to praise an opponent they had completely dominated recently.
“I think every game is getting tougher and tougher,” Jokic said. “They were up by 20 points in Denver and today they were up by 12 in the first half, but I think it's really hard to play against the same team over and over again. … It's a really tough team. Every game is really interesting and it's hard to win. They're playing catch-up in every game and they're really talented. It's really hard to finish the team.”
Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points for Denver, which took control in the third quarter and rallied in the final minutes to beat Los Angeles for the fifth straight time on the road. Won last season's Western Conference Finals.
“It's fun to win games,” Porter said. “I don't think anyone, other than the media, pays attention to the 11th (winning streak) because it's difficult. It's not easy to beat this team. We had to come back from a 20-point deficit in the last game and get scratched. So it's not easy. But of course we like to win, and the more often we can win, the better.”
Game 4 will be played Saturday night in Los Angeles. No NBA team has ever rebounded from an 0-3 deficit in the playoffs.
For the Lakers, Anthony Davis had 33 points and 15 rebounds, and James added 26 points and nine assists. The Lakers haven't beaten the Nuggets since Dec. 16, 2022, but there was little hope they could end that streak.
“We're going into it with the mindset, 'Let's get one win and force a Game 5, and we'll go from there,'” James said. “Obviously as long as there's life, there's faith. I think I'll play until the wheels fall off. That's always been important to me. It's a mindset and (Davis) feels the same way. I know.”
Austin Reeves scored 22 points for Los Angeles, which entered the postseason with its best play since the holiday season. Impressive play-in victory over New Orleans Take the 7th seed. The Lakers had won 12 of 15 heading into this series, but were one loss away from missing out on a playoff round for the third time in four years since winning the 2020 NBA title.
“They have championship confidence,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of the Nuggets. “That starting group has been together for a long time. Their net rating is off the charts for a starting group. They got guys to step up and make plays.”
Davis and James were once again outstanding, but they can't do it alone. The Lakers missed 15 of their first 16 3-pointers in Game 3, going nearly 34 minutes between 3-pointers.
D'Angelo Russell played 24 minutes without scoring for the Lakers, and he only had two assists as a shaky third option on offense. Russell missed all seven shots, including six 3-pointers.
Gordon, meanwhile, scored 10 points in the third quarter when Denver took control, marking his highest point total in 10 NBA seasons in the playoffs. Jokic also made nine of 13 shots, narrowly missing the 17th triple-double of his postseason career.
The second-seeded Nuggets begin their title defense. 2 wins in Denverthey pulled away late in the first game, and Murray made a go-ahead jumper at the buzzer to take the second game in a furious comeback.
After blowing a 20-point lead late in Game 2, Davis said the seventh-seeded Lakers felt frustrated, trailing and at times disorganized. He faced the diversity of Denver's offense.
Game 3 didn't fix any of those issues, and the Lakers are now one loss away from ending James' incredible 21st NBA season. Los Angeles hasn't played a home game in 16 days and has only won once at home since March 24.
“Last season, we were leading 3-0 and it ended up being Game 7,” Lakers guard Gabe Vincent said. “Crazier things have happened.”
However, the Nuggets went 16-4 in the playoffs last season, and after comfortably playing against the talented Lakers through three games, they look like they can make even more momentum into the postseason.
Russell's disappearance was compounded by another quiet game from starter Rui Hachimura, who scored just five points on four shots in 28 minutes.
Denver turned a small halftime deficit into a 10-point lead with a 24-10 run and started the second half with Gordon and Murray leading the charge, scoring a total of 19 points in the third quarter. The Lakers never got closer than eight points after the fourth quarter.
While Lakers fans left the building near the end of the game, a small group on the Lakers side yelled, “Get rid of Durbin!”
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