Nikola Jokic scores another triple-double, Nuggets beat Lakers in Game 1

news7g05/17/2023

1 3 minutes read

Nikola Jokic scores another triple-double, Nuggets beat Lakers in Game 1

Nikola Jokić scored his sixth double of these playoffs with 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists, powering the Denver nuggets win 132-126 first Los Angeles Lakers in the opening match of the Western Conference final on Tuesday night.

Behind Jokic’s sizzling start and strong ending, and Jamal MurrayWith 31 points, Denver beat the Lakers for the first time in the opening game of the Western Finals.

After a slow start, Anthony Davis there are 40 points and 10 bounces, and LeBron James finished with 26 points, 12 goals and 9 assists. Austin Reaves scored 23 points and fueled LA’s desperate fourth-quarter streak, nearly wiping Denver’s 14-point gap in three games.

The Nuggets took the lead to 21 but the Lakers picked up three points twice in the fourth inning, once thanks to Reaves’ 3-pointer for 124-121 and again thanks to James’ free-throw pair that made it 129- 126 with 1:12 remaining.

After Jokic sank two free throws with 26 seconds left to give Denver a 131-126 lead, Murray poked the ball from James as he was about to put the ball into the box and Jokic collected the ball loosely before being fouled when 10.9 seconds left. He sank one of the ships and James mistakenly shot from the third as the seconds passed.

Game 2 came on Thursday night at Ball Arena, where top seed Nuggets led 7-0 in the knockout stages and 41-7 overall, the league’s best home record this season.

Jokic had said a day earlier that the Nuggets desperately needed to avoid following in the footsteps of sneakers. Grizzly Memphis And golden empire warriorsboth lost their opener at home to the Lakers and lost in six games.

Furthermore, James has won the last 20 playoff series where his team won the opener.

The Nuggets haven’t played the Lakers in Game 1 since 1979, when they won the opening game of the best-of-three series only to lose the next two. That’s the closest the Nuggets have ever been to the Lakers, who have beaten Denver three times in the Western finals, including the Florida bubble game in 2020.

With his MVP certification in an incredible display of strength in the first quarter, Jokic knocked down dozens of chessboards and made five assists to take eight points. That makes him the first player since at least 1997 to have a dozen or more goals and at least five assists in any quarter of an NBA knockout game.

The Lakers used an 11-2 scoreline to close the gap to 11 points before Jokic responded with an unbalanced 3-pointer throw through Davis’ outstretched arm that left the net barely shaking at the whistle. move, causing Davis to trudge back to the bench. incredulous.

“Joker” who missed out on his third consecutive NBA MVP award this year when he was trailed by Philadelphia‘S Joel Embiidhad 19 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 saves after halftime as the Nuggets led 72-54 in the dressing room.

Jokic personally beat the Lakers 16-13 in the first half, and the Nuggets beat LA in the playoff series opener for the first time in eight attempts.

Associated Press report.

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