NBA Playoffs - Playoffs - Matchday 34
Denver Nuggets
132 126
Finalized
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have found Denver a height problem. The Los Angeles team played on Tuesday the first game of the West final against the Nuggets at 1,600 meters above sea level. Altitude sickness for the 17-time NBA champions has a name. His name is Nicola Jokić, who with his 2.11 meters, has been a headache for the team of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Serbian center has registered tonight his third consecutive triple double in the playoffs, something that nobody had achieved in the league. He did so with 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists. His performance has overshadowed a great game by the Los Angeles duo, who scored a combined 66 points (40 from Davis) and came close to a comeback.
Nikola Jokic has a spectacular Game 1 as the @nuggets secure a 1-0 lead!
34 PTS (12-17 FG)
21 REB
14 AST
Game 2: Thursday, 8:30pm/et on ESPN pic.twitter.com/hK0GG8l5Db
— NBA (@NBA) May 17, 2023
Despite the dominance of the Nuggets, the Lakers closed the fourth quarter strongly thanks to eleven points from Austin Reaves, who scored three three-pointers. The visiting team started the period 14 below Denver, but came within three of tying the game several times during the final minutes. LeBron James lost a vital possession in the last minute after a slap from Jamal Murray. The turnaround was enough for the Nuggets to seal the first win of the series while whetting the appetite for Thursday's game at the same stadium.
James couldn't hide his frustration at coming so close to the feat. "Oh, for God's sake!" he shouted to the sky on his way back to the locker room. In the postgame conference, he acknowledged that Denver began by imposing its rhythm with "a punch in the mouth." "I know games are won in 48 minutes, but they set the pace in 24 minutes and we tried to catch them the other 24," he said. The Lakers scored 34 points in the final period to the home side's 26.
Nuggets 132-126 Lakers
Denver takes advantage in the West Final, with Jokic unleashed: 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists. #TiempoDePlayoffs #dormiresdecobardes pic.twitter.com/1GYlwRh4AU
— NBA on Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarNBA) May 17, 2023
The night made it clear that the clash of Jokić and Davis will be one of the epic elements of the final. The Lakers star, who hadn't scored 40 points since early April, had a double responsibility: guiding his team and deactivating the two-time NBA MVP. The Serb showed early in the match that it will be a difficult task not only in the enemy paint, but also on his own court. At the start, Jokić grabbed 12 rebounds in just nine minutes, six defensive and six offensive. The Lakers, as a whole, only had nine more than the European. Denver outscored the Angels by 17 rebounds.
Jokić has been a threat in attack. He scored all three three-pointers he threw. The last of them was launched deep, meters behind the line of the area. It is a usual area for snipers like Damian Lillard or Kevin Booker, but the Serb scored to show that nothing could go wrong. Davis, who had marked him melee and blocked a great shot in the second period, resigned himself in disbelief. The Joker, as they call the Serbian star, closed the game by hitting 12 of 15 shots inside the box. He was followed by Murray, with 31 points, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a former Lakers player who today scored 21 points to his former team.
Davis, however, has not been left behind in what has been one of his best performances of the playoffs. The center, despite the loss, has given his best game of the playoffs since the second of the series against Golden State. He obtained a double double with 10 rebounds and with nine points in the last quarter was one of the architects of the comeback of the yellow. James contributed seven of his 26 points in the closing game. The 38-year-old Los Angeles star, looking to play in his eleventh final in his 20 years in the league, grabbed 12 rebounds.
The Lakers have left behind the sad record with which they began the season, of two games won and 10 lost. Their story is very different now with 18 wins and 7 losses in the last 25 matches. On Thursday they return to the charge with an eye on the weekend, when the series will arrive in Los Angeles. Then they will return to sea level. But Nikola Jokić will continue to be a problem for them.
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