Los Angeles Lakers suffered a very hard blow after losing at home against Denver Nuggets and be one game away from being swept in the first round of the Western Conference of the NBA Playoffs.
Those in gold and purple once again took the lead on the scoreboard in the first half but were unable to maintain the advantage and suffered against their greatest executioner, who already beat them eleven consecutive gameswith the memory still fresh of the previous season’s sweep in the Conference Finals.
“It’s just basketball. At the end of the day it’s just that, basketball“he declared Lebron James in the press conference after Game 3 of the series that has the current champions as big favorites and one game away from qualifying.
LeBron James flies at 39 years old.
Ashley Landis/Ap-LaPresse
However, if anyone thinks that The King He already considers the series lost, he really doesn’t know his career or his winning mentality that led him to be considered one of the best players in NBA history.
“Right now it’s one game at a time… As long as you have life, you will always have faith, you will play until the wheels fall off. That’s what it’s always about for me as a mentality,” LeBron added, knowing that his team needs almost a miracle but that history is not yet decided.
Lakers vs Nuggets: D’Angelo Russell finishes Game 3 without points and is booed by the fans
These types of matches are often defined by details and for the Lakers that D’Angelo Russell not scoring a single point in the entire game is almost a sentence.
In 24 minutes on the courtthe base accumulated 0 of 6 in triples, 0 of 7 in field goals and did not take free shots throughout the game. His performance generated rejection from his own audience, which had been very enthusiastic at the beginning but little by little it faded away.
The image of Russell eating chocolate apart from the rest of his teammates when the game had not yet ended speaks for itself.
In front, the Nuggets imposed their law with an amazing group performance led by Aaron Gordonwith a double double of 27 points and fifteen rebounds.
The Serbian Nikola Jokic He contributed a double double of 24 points and fifteen rebounds, to which he added nine assists; Jamal Murraythe hero of the second game, scored 22 points and distributed ten assists, while Michael Porter Jr. scored 20 and captured ten rebounds.
Nikola Jokic fights for the ball against LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Ashley Landis/Ap-LaPresse
NBA Playoffs 2024: how the series between Lakers and Nuggets continues
The series between Lakers and Nuggets for the first round of the Western Conference of the NBA playoffs It is played in the best of seven games but after Denver’s three consecutive victories it seems to be close to finishing much sooner than expected.
The team led by Nikola Jokic will have the great opportunity to close the series with another historic sweep this Saturday in the Crypo.com.
- Game 4: Saturday, April 27 in Los Angeles
- Game 5 (if necessary): Monday, January 29 in Denver
- Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, May 2 in Los Angeles
- Game 7 (if necessary): Nuggets vs Lakers in Denver
