Los Angeles – 7th place Lakers, anyone?
LeBron James and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers more than stayed out of the playoffs on Saturday night, snapping an 11-game losing streak against the Denver Nuggets. A 119-108 victory in Game 4 of the first round of the NBA playoff series gives them hope heading into Monday's Game 5 in Denver.
Game 6 will be played Thursday in Los Angeles.
Game 7 will be played Saturday in Denver.
And I'm sorry, everyone. Just as the defending NBA champion Nuggets were supposed to sweep the Lakers out of the playoffs for the second year in a row, Lakers fever was spreading throughout Crypto.com Arena.
“It's a great day to stay alive,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
Can these Lakers survive long enough to become the first team in NBA history to win a playoff series from a 3-0 deficit?
As delusional as it may sound, looking back at Game 4 provides a blueprint.
Put the ball in the hoop – a lot
LeBron James arrived at the postgame press conference wearing a stylish white bucket hat. It was a fitting hat considering he made so many stylish buckets against the Nuggets, and with great accuracy.
The Lakers shot 52.2 percent from the floor (48-of-92) and their 119 points were their second-highest total in the past 12 games against the Nuggets.
James had an impressive 30 points on 14-of-23 shooting.
Anthony Davis had a great performance, scoring 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting and grabbing 23 rebounds.
But the difference was guard D'Angelo Russell. Despite a terrible performance in Game 3, missing all seven of his shots, Russell still scored 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. (In Game 3, he made 0 of 6 3-point shots.)
“We're trying to prepare for this day and age where everyone's watching and everyone has something to say,” Russell said.
Ham had something to say about Russell's performance.
“I loved it,” the Lakers coach recalled of the pregame matchup. “I told him (Russell) to go crazy. Be confident, you've been doing this all your life. Go crazy and be aggressive.
“He looked at me and his little nickname for me is Big Dog. He said, 'Okay, Big Dog.' understood. ” Shake my hand, give me a hug, do what he did tonight. ”
Terrifying third quarter
The Lakers missed their first three shots to start the third quarter, but Lakers fans were sure to mutter, “Here we go again!”
For the fourth straight game, the Lakers led at halftime, this time 61-48. However, in each of the previous three games, the Nuggets outscored the Lakers in the third quarter by a combined score of 91-60 and cruised to victory.
Russell said the Lakers made “third-quarter adjustments,” including prioritizing a thorough warm-up before the start of the third quarter.
When the quarter actually begins, don't worry about the first three missed shots. The Lakers showed energy and focus heading into the second half that they had lacked thus far.
Mr Russell said the purpose was to attack. “Don't come after us and let them attack us,” he said.
Yes, Denver beat Los Angeles 32-30 in the third quarter. However, the Lakers held an 11-point lead and entered the fourth quarter with confidence.
“We've been talking about it,” James said of his team's third-quarter struggles. “That was our Achilles heel all season.”
James said a strong third quarter was key.
“It definitely helped me going into the fourth, and the fourth for me is just the mindset to close it out,” he said.
James did just that, making two clutch plays in the final minutes to close out the win.
What else worked?
Davis once again faced off against Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets' star center almost achieved a triple-double with 33 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds. But Davis responded with 25 points and 23 rebounds. As a result, the Lakers outscored the Nuggets 46-40.
“Absolutely overwhelming,” Hamm said of Davis. “Dominant.”
The Lakers avoided the specific morale dip that plagued them during their recent game against the Nuggets. If a bad shot costs you two more points, or if a player jogs after a turnover instead of running back to defense.
As James pointed out after the game, the Lakers only allowed 12 fast-break points, five second-chance points, and nine offensive rebounds.
“We had a great run against this team,” Ham said of the Nuggets. “We were able to play a good segment. We never quite put together a complete game.”
But they finally did it on Saturday.
And they only need three more in a row to make history.
