In the National Basketball Association play-offs on April 27, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets 119-108, giving themselves “another lifeline” thanks to 30 points from star player LeBron James.
Despite a triple-double from Nuggets star Nikola Jokic and a 3-0 deficit against the reigning champs, the Lakers persevered at home to force a Game 5 on April 29 back in Denver.
James scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to make sure the Lakers didn’t let double-digit leads slip away in their losses in the first three games.
As James put it, “I adore the fourth quarter.” “I know we have three games left against this squad and it’s close-out time, but we haven’t been able to do it.
“So tonight I had an opportunity to do that and I wanted to deliver,” the 39-year-old continued. He finished the game with six of his eight shots made, drew a charge, and stole the ball, which he used to finish with a dunk.
However, knowing that no NBA team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series, the four-time NBA champion was not prepared to celebrate the Lakers’ first victory over Denver in 12 games since December of 2022.
We’re still behind 3-1, he declared. Our only chance is to just play the next game. It’s a one-game series for us, but we’ve given ourselves another lifeline.
For Los Angeles, Anthony Davis scored 25 points and an incredible 23 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves both finished with 21 points apiece.
Russell earned the trust of head coach Darvin Ham by staying in the starting lineup following his scoreless performance in Game 3.
Jokic, the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, finished with 33 points, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists.
For the Nuggets, Jamal Murray scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Michael Porter Jr. added 25 points.
“The paint (defense) was a joke,” Denver coach Michael Malone remarked. I sounded like a broken record in every huddle tonight.
“Paint, paint, paint,” was the mantra of every meeting. We managed to prevail in Game 3 despite their 70 points. There were seventy-two tonight. That is an amazing figure. We simply lacked the necessary physicality and urgency, in my opinion.
The other three games on April 27 were crushing defeats. Boston, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, defeated the eighth-seeded Heat 104-84 at home to take a 2-1 lead.
After defeating the Pelicans 106-85 in their first two meetings in Oklahoma City, the Thunder maintained their lead in the Western Conference series with a 3-0 thumping in New Orleans.
And to tie their Eastern Conference series at two games apiece, the Orlando Magic defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-89.
In Miami, the Celtics led from beginning to end thanks to 22 points apiece from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who also added 11 rebounds and six assists.
The Celtics allowed the Heat the fewest points of any opponent this season, led by 16 points from Derrick White and 18 from Kristaps Porzingis.
“Their pressure increased once they reached double digits,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra stated. They were the more physically strong team; they intimidated and abused us.
After one quarter, Boston was up 21–12, and in the second, they erupted for 42 points.
At the half, they led by 24 points, and in the second half, they increased that lead to 29 points.
After making 23 three-pointers in their triumph in game two, Miami only managed nine three-pointers in their loss. They will look to bounce back when they host Game 4 on April 29.
The Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will get the opportunity to play the Pelicans in New Orleans till then.
The Pelicans have no answer for the youthful Thunder squad, which is led by finalist for the Most Valuable Player award Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the Thunder on April 27 with 24 points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Zion Williamson is out with a hamstring issue.
After leading 60-46 at the half, the Thunder extended their lead to 24 points in the fourth quarter thanks to their 17 three-point shooting performance.
For the Thunder, Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey each scored 21 points.
Although CJ McCollum scored 16 points and Brandon Ingram scored 19, the Pelicans only made nine of their 32 three-point attempts and turned the ball over 21 times.
Coach Mark Daigneault of the Thunder stated, “They had to work hard for everything because of our excellent defense, aggressiveness, and focus on that end of the court. And I believed that established the mood.
Franz Wagner scored thirty-two points in Orlando, and the Magic dominated the second half of Cleveland’s game.
The Cavaliers went more than six minutes without scoring, scoring only 10 points in the third quarter and 29 in the second half.
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