2023-05-17 04:04:49
The Denver Nuggets held serve in Game 1 with a narrow win over the Los Angels Lakers, to take an early 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals. Nikola Jokic had yet another triple double, leading the Nuggets with 34, 21 and 14 assists in the victory.
Jokic posts another triple double
Denver lost just seven games at home in the regular season, and had yet to lose a game at Ball Arena in the postseason. On Tuesday night the Lakers found out just how difficult it is to play the two time MVP and a healthy Denver team in the Mile High City.
From early on, it was evident that the Nuggets had the size advantage on a lot of match ups all over the court. Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon showed their size and strength early on, while Jamal Murray was stroking it from downtown, but of course it was Nikola Jokic leading the way out of the gate.
The Serbian had 8 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists in the first 12 minutes and set the tone in the battle of the big men with Anthony Davis. At halftime the Lakers were getting crushed on the boards, pulling down just 13 rebounds while Denver had 36 going into the break.
AD’s 40 not enough
Denver’s lead jumped up to 16 in the first quarter, and it stayed in double figures most of the first three quarters thanks to Murray’s hot shooting and Jokic’s all around dominance.
When the Lakers have struggled during this postseason it’s come as a consequence of Anthony Davis struggling. That wasn’t the case on Tuesday night. Davis had 40 points and 10 rebounds while LeBron chipped in another 26, 12 and 9 assists but it was a change in tactics that almost flipped the game on it’s head in the final 12 minutes.
Defensive change almost completes comeback
Darvin Ham put Rui Hachimura on Nikola Jokic and essentially shut the big man down for the last quarter. Hachimura shadowing Jokic meant that Anthony Davis could roam around the paint and provided double teams on the Serbian. Jokic scored just three points in the final 12 minutes and the Lakers made a huge comeback to cut a one time 21 point lead to 3 points with less than 2:30 to go in the game.
The Nuggets were able to hold off the Lakers comeback and take Game 1 at home, but the last quarter sets up a very interesting Game 2 as the Nuggets will have to find a way to counter the defensive tactics put in place by coach Ham late in the game.
Game 1 was fantastic, and Game 2 promises to be just as entertaining. Tip off from Ball Arena will be Thursday at 8:30 pm ET.
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