Lebron James and Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets to reach the NBA Finals

09/27/2020 Sports, World



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By: AP |

September 27, 2020 10:43:00 am


Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the first half of game 5 of the 2020 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets at AdventHealth Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James is going to the 10th NBA final and, for the first time in a decade, so are the Los Angeles Lakers.

James scored his 27th postseason triple-double with a great fourth quarter, propelling the Lakers to a 117-107 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night to win the Western Conference finals in five games.

James finished with 38 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists to become the fourth player to reach the 10 NBA Finals. It took him two seasons to make it with the Lakers, after failing to make the playoffs in an injury-plagued first season after eight straight trips with Miami and Cleveland.

“My teammates said to take us home and it was my responsibility to try to make the right plays and do the right things on the court to help us win ball games,” James said during a trophy presentation in a nearly empty stadium. at Disney World, rather than in front of his fans at the Staples Center.

The Lakers will face Miami or Boston in their 32nd appearance in the NBA Finals, the most in league history. They haven’t played for the title since they beat the Celtics in 2010 for the last of their 16 titles.

Anthony Davis added 27 points and will end his first season with Los Angeles playing their first NBA Finals.

“We fought a lot this year beginning with the start of the season and we know the job is not done,” Davis said. “It’s a great feeling, but we have four more to win.”

Nikola Jokic and Jerami Grant each scored 20 points for the Nuggets, who had fought elimination six times before the Lakers finally eliminated them. Jamal Murray added 19 points and eight assists, but the star guard struggled with foot pain and lacked his usual explosiveness.

The Nuggets had come back 3-1 in the first two rounds before finally being sent off a month since they would have exited the bubble had they lost the first time they faced elimination, in Game 5 against Utah on August 25. .

“It’s not the end goal, but to go this far and surprise as many people as we did, it’s a good feeling,” Murray said. “So, try to come back next year and come back stronger.”

Denver fell behind once again, but James didn’t allow another comeback. Denver coach Michael Malone made the difference in experience between his young team and James, who tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for third all-time with his 10 finals appearances.

“We were playing against a guy who is routine for him, so we take comfort in that,” Malone said, “and my challenge to our group is that we will come back.”

Only Celtics Hall of Famers Bill Russell, at 12, and Sam Jones, at 11, have reached more NBA Finals than James.

The lead was 72-56 within four minutes of the third with Murray limping, but the Nuggets, who were 15 down in the third quarter of Game 5 against Utah and 16 at the same point in Game 5 against the Clippers, put together a comeback. driven largely by Grant. They came back to tie Murray at 84 on free throws, before Davis hit a 3 with a second to go.

James hit back-to-back baskets while fouled early in the quarter, taking a two-point lead to 95-88. When Denver made one last push to bring it down to four, James set Danny Green up for a triple for his 10th assist, then jumped himself to extend it to 108-99.

Murray said he was battling a bruised foot that did not improve when he changed tennis.

Nuggets: The Nuggets became the 16th team in NBA history to lose 10 games in a single postseason. The record is 11, shared by four teams, most recently the 2009 Orlando Magic. They also became the second team to play at least 19 games in a single tiebreaker and finish with a record below .500; They were 9-10, much like the Washington Bullets in the 1979 postseason.

Lakers: The Lakers have finished all three series in five games. … Coach Frank Vogel said Davis was upset with mild pain after spraining his left ankle in the fourth quarter of Game 4.

END OF THE ROAD

Game five came on Denver coach Michael Malone’s day 82 in the bubble after arriving on July 7. He thinks time showed the Nuggets are heading in the right direction and he hopes it will last a few more weeks.

“But when I think about this whole experience, as crazy as it sounds, and it has been difficult being away from family, being with the players, the staff and the front office, everyone who is here, it has made this so much more. easy than I imagine. it could be otherwise, ”Malone said.

THE SEASONS CHANGE

NBA teams usually start training camp in late September, and Vogel said it was strange to play conference finals games, which usually happen near the end of May.

“A lot, especially since we’re in Florida and it’s still 90 degrees every day,” he said. “Someone told me it was fall the other day and I really didn’t believe them. It’s very unusual to play basketball in the playoffs in the fall in 90-degree weather. “

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