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Anthony Davis (3) and LeBron James (23) of the Los Angeles Lakers shake hands in the closing moments of their 114-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets in an NBA conference postseason basketball game on Thursday, September 24, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. | AP Photo
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – The Los Angeles Lakers are one win away from returning to the NBA Finals, and only another 3-1 comeback against the Denver Nuggets can stop them.
Anthony Davis scored 34 points, LeBron James had 26, and the Lakers beat the Nuggets 114-108 on Thursday night (Friday morning, September 25, 2020 Philippine time) in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Western Conference.
Davis got the Lakers off to a quick start with his scoring and James helped them finish off their defense, forcing Jamal Murray to make some late fouls after the guard kept the Nuggets in with a series of high-difficulty baskets.
James added nine rebounds and eight assists, and the Lakers had 12 offensive rebounds for a whopping 25-6 lead in second-chance points.
Game 5 is Saturday, when the Lakers can reach the NBA Finals for the first time in a decade.
The Nuggets will face elimination for the seventh time in the bubble. They were down 3-1 against Utah in the first round and came out of the same hole against the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western semifinals.
But they couldn’t come back in this game, they got close to a point in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but constantly fell back from there with a key stop or rebound from the Lakers.
The Lakers have 16 championships, one more behind Boston in NBA history, but they haven’t played for one since winning their most recent title in 2010.
The Lakers opened up Dwight Howard in center and he had 12 points and 11 rebounds, which helped put Nikola Jokic in foul trouble.
Murray had 32 points and eight assists, but Jokic finished with just 16 points and seven rebounds.
Davis scored 27 points in Game 3, but the 6-foot-10 forward acknowledged his two-rebound performance was “unacceptable.” He came out much more aggressively Thursday after the Lakers played from behind much of the last game.
With a series of short jump shots, Davis made his first six shots before any other Lakers player scored. Then Howard scored on consecutive shots before James followed with his first two field goals.
Murray kept the Lakers from straying too far with a 7-for-8 start. He continued his acrobatic tray around James with 2 1/2 minutes left at the half with a pair of free throws that brought him down to four, before the Lakers took a 60-55 lead in the locker room.
The Nuggets shot 59% in the first half, but the Lakers held an 18-2 lead in second-chance points.
The Lakers appeared to be taking control as Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope combined for a flurry that brought the lead to 11 with less than 4 minutes remaining in the third, but Michael Porter Jr. hit two 3-pointers late in the cutoff period. . to 87-84 going to the room.
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