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The defending NBA champions secured their first of sixteen victories required to win the 2024 NBA Championship on Saturday night, beginning their official title defense on a high note. The […]
The defending NBA champions secured their first of sixteen victories required to win the 2024 NBA Championship on Saturday night, beginning their official title defense on a high note. The Denver Nuggets, led by soon-to-be three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, were too much to handle for LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the opening round. The Nuggets have now beaten the Lakers in nine straight games: between last year’s Western Conference Finals sweep, four regular season games in 2023-24, and now, a Game 1 victory in the playoffs.
The Lakers got out to a hot start, building a 33-25 lead in the first quarter and leading by as many as 12 points. James and Davis were represented all over the spreadsheet in the first half, with James coming out with a particularly dominant first quarter.
But whatever adjustments head coach Mike Malone might have made at halftime certainly worked, as the Nuggets won the third quarter 32-18 to take control of the game. As the game wore on, the Nuggets got better and better, finding transition opportunities, hitting open three-pointers, and taking advantage of double teams on Nikola Jokic.
The Nuggets opened the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead, sending out Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Peyton Watson, and Christian Braun. The Lakers made a late push, cutting the lead to as few as six points, but if you don’t have the lead by the time Jokic checks back in to the game in the fourth quarter: well, good luck.
Jokic checked back in with 7:46 to play, and scored nine of his 32 points down the stretch, including a three-pointer with 5:14 to play that gave Denver a 103-93 lead.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, the score was 114-103 with the Nuggets on top, ad Denver defends homecourt at Ball Arena in Game 1 of their 2024 NBA playoff run. All four home teams took care of business in Game 1 on Saturday, but the Nuggets faced one of the toughest and hungriest opponents out there. Stealing Game 1, let alone any games at Ball Arena, would change the complexion of this opening round series in an instant: the Nuggets aren’t letting that happen.
Jokic was the game’s top performer, scoring 32 points on 15-of-23 shooting, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists. Anthony Davis had 32 points as well, for the Lakers, on 12-of-23 shooting in 45 minutes (compared to a more tame 39 minutes for Jokic.) Davis’s fatigue showed late in the game, as he was unable to keep up with Jokic on the break.
Jokic was supported by his Robin, Jamal Murray, who notched the second-most points for the Nuggets despite a subpar 9-of-23 shooting night. Murray did grab six rebounds and dish out ten assists to make up for his poor shooting night. Michael Porter Jr. played about to his averages, scoring 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting with three three-pointers made. Aaron Gordon also did a little bit of everything, scoring 12 points, securing 11 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists in a near Draymond Green-type triple double.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope shot just 4-for-11 on the night, with all but one of those shots coming from three-point range, but his hot shooting in the third quarter fueled the Nuggets comeback and allowed them to build a comfortable lead to ride in to the fourth quarter. With KCP’s 12 points, all five Nuggets scored in double figures.
For Los Angeles, James finished with 27 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds: a purely classic LeBron statline, which becomes even more incredible this late in his career. However, after an explosive first quarter, James failed to impact the game in meaningful enough ways in the game’s final three quarters. D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves had 13 points apiece, while Taurean Prince had 11 off the bench (the only bench points of the night for the Lakers.)
The Lakers will look to snap their nine-game skid against the Nuggets on Monday night before the series shifts to Los Angeles on Thursday.
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Header Photo Credit: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports
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