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The Denver Nuggets had the best record in the Western Conference this season. After completing a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, they proved why.
The Nuggets advanced to their first-ever NBA Finals in franchise history, defeating the Lakers 113-111 in Game 4, and in doing so, vanquishing a foe whose had their number since 1979.
In seven previous postseason series against the Lakers, the Nuggets have never advanced. Maybe the eighth time was the charm, because David finally was able to slay Goliath.
"Middle of December we ascended to first place in the Western Conference, and through the ups and downs, we never lost first place in the Western Conference," said Nuggets' head coach Mike Malone. "To beat this team in the Western Conference Finals and to get the first sweep in franchise history, to get the first Western Conference championship in franchise history, it's amazing, it means a lot. But I speak for 17 players in that locker room and the entire organization: We are not satisfied."
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Denver's one-two punch of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray proved to be more powerful than the Lakers dynamic duo of LeBorn James and Anthony Davis.
In Game 1 it was the two-time MVP Jokic that dominated, and Murray took over in Games 2 and 3 before Jokic took it home in the fourth quarter. In Game 4 the duo did it together, combining for 55 points, as they completed a 15-point comeback in the second half behind ferocious defense and seamlessly smooth offense.
"We were down 15 at half, and came in the third quarter ready to play and ready to take the lead," said Murray. "It was just a great team effort all around. Everybody came in and stepped up. But Nikola, he's doing some incredible stuff."
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Jokic recorded his eighth triple-double of the postseason scoring 30 points, with 14 rebounds, and 13 assists, passing Wilt Chamberlain for the most in a single playoff run in NBA history. Murray had 25 points his own.
LeBron James, meanwhile, did his best to make sure the season wouldn't come to an end for the 17-time NBA Champion Lakers. James had 40 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists in a heroic effort that came up just short.
"He just came out with a mindset to keep this thing going," said Lakers' head coach Darvin Ham about LeBron. "He came in the building, as he's been all year, all throughout the playoffs, with a focus, a determination, to get it done by any means necessary."
Anthony Davis had 21 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks. Austin Reaves finished with 17.
"He came out on fire. He came out super aggressive, super hot, and we kind of just let him play," said Davis of LeBron. "When a guy has it going like that, you kind of feed them. He kept us in the game. It's not surprising to me he came out like that. Arguably the best player to touch a basketball. He came out on fire. He came out super aggressive and kind of kept us in it in the first half."
The soldout crowd at Crypto.com Arena tried to will their team to victory, standing on their feet, taking turns chanting "DE-FENSE!" and "Let's go Lakers!" throughout the fourth quarter.
The Lakers had multiple opportunities to tie or take the lead in the waning seconds. First James missed a fallaway jump shot with 30 seconds remaining, and was triple-teamed on the final possession as he attacked the basket, his shot blocked as time expired.
The question now is whether or not the Lakers will try and run it back with their newborn roster that has only been together a few months, or will they try and add a third superstar to play alongside James and Davis.
That third star may have been in attendance for Game 4. Kyrie Irving, LeBron's old running mate that helped him make NBA history in overcoming a 3-1 deficit to the dynastic Golden State Warriors in 2016, was sitting courtside on Monday night, and has attended many Lakers playoff games this season.
Irving, who was traded to the Dallas Mavericks at the NBA trade deadline back in February, is an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Ironically, another member of that 2016 champion Cavaliers team was on the court in Game 4. Forward Tristan Thompson, who was signed by the Lakers at the end of the season for some experience and wisdom off the bench, got some run, scoring four points in the most minutes he's had all postseason.
Even James' future is in doubt as he hinted at retirement after the loss.
"We'll see what happens going forward. I don't know. I don't know. I've got a lot to think about to be honest," said James when asked about next season. "I've got a lot to think about to be honest. Just for me personally going forward with the game of basketball, I've got a lot to think about."
LeBron's future will be the fodder for sports talk across the globe in the days to come, but the real story should be about the Nuggets. Denver will now seek to claim their first NBA title against either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics (who can also be swept on Tuesday).
"It's incredible. It's a lot of fun. It's surreal. I know we're going to keep making history," said Murray about the Nuggets playing in their first NBA Finals. "That's the thing. We want to keep that mindset and enjoy the moment. But we've got more work to do, so that's the mindset right now.
The aroma of inevitability was in the air in Los Angeles on Monday night. After losing the first three games of the series, including their first at home this postseason on Saturday, the Lakers knew the odds were against them.
In 149 playoff series where a team took a 3-0 lead, no team in NBA history has ever come back to win the series. Even the Lakers, in eight previous series where they trailed 0-3, had never even won Game 4. They still haven't.
"It was a little motivating factor for me tonight," admitted James of the history that could have been made had the Lakers come back down 0-3, and not wanting the Nuggets to celebrate on their home court.
However for the Lakers, you could argue they've been playing with house money since mid-February.
After starting the season 2-10, the Lakers were given a 0.3 percent chance to make the postseason. During the All-Star Game on February 19, the Lakers were five games below .500 and in 13th place in the Western Conference. After sneaking into the play-in tournament, they upset the higher-seeded Grizzlies and Warriors in the first two rounds of the playoffs. But at some point the riveting rollercoaster ride had to come to an end.
"It was cool, a pretty cool ride," said James of the rollercoaster season. "But I don't know. I think it was okay. I don't like to say it's a successful year because I don't play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my career. You know, I don't get a kick out of making a Conference [Finals] appearance. I've done it, a lot. And it's not fun to me to not be able to be a part of getting to the Finals."
Despite the sweep, the Lakers were in every game of the series, and arguably should have won some of them. For some head-scratching reason, it took Lakers' head coach Darvin Ham three full games to bench D'Angelo Russell from the starting lineup after beginning the series with a -53 when on the floor. That means when Russell was on the court for the first three games of the series, the Lakers were out-scored by 53 points.
Ham went small with his starting lineup in Game 1, and it cost him dearly against the much-bigger Nuggets. Once Russell went to the bench, the Lakers erased a 21-point deficit and got within 3 points with just over a minute remaining in the game.
In Game 2, the Lakers led through the first three quarters before Murray went nuclear in the fourth quarter. The Lakers had a slim lead in the fourth quarter of Game 3, but this time it was Jokic who dominated the Lake Show late in the game.
"You know, you can go back, look at the lineups...You're always going to question whether or not you should have took a timeout or put the ball in someone's hand at a certain particular time of the game or switched up your defenses. I just felt like, you know, no matter who we put in that lineup, they were going to step up and give it their all, no matter what the results said," said Ham when asked if he regrets not benching Russell earlier. "Everybody was supportive. Really wanted to come out and get this win tonight. I thought we fought as hard as we could fight."
Now the focus shifts to the summer, where the Lakers front office will have some tough decisions to make on 10 different players that could leave in free agency. Among them, Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, Lonnie Walker IV, and Dennis Schröder.
"To be honest, I'm not quite sure what the roster will look like next year. I think myself, AD, Max Christie, I think Vando has a player option, something like that, I don't know who else -- I mean, the roster is not set," said James. "Obviously that's Rob and the front office, they are going to figure out the best way to put this team together to go forward in the fall. But it's not like we have a team full of multi-year guys that's stuck in a contract right now. So, I don't know, we'll see."
At 38 years old, James had one of the best games of his 20-year career, but even he wasn't great enough to prevent the Nuggets from making franchise history. James had 21 points in the first quarter, 31 points at the half, the most he's scored in a half in his career. He finished with 40, but it was not enough.
"For me it's just a mindset. Training the mind, you train the mind, the body will fall where it may and take care of the rest," said James on how he was able to have a historic performance in the elimination game at his age. "Knowing, coming into a game where I may have to play a full game, that's just my mindset, and wasn't able to come through, and wasn't able to get the win. That was just my mindset going into tonight."
In just a couple weeks, there could be a new team hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy for the first time.
