LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 20: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets shoots the ball against LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the third quarter in game three of the Western Conference Finals at Crypto.com Arena on May 20, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Lakers are on life support.
The Lakers have not looked anything like the dominant team that has revealed itself during its improbable postseason run this spring.
In each of their first two playoff series, they stole the first game on the road. However, inside the hostile environment at Ball Arena in Denver, the Lakers were demolished in the paint and on the glass in Game 1, and their No. 1 ranked defense disappeared late in Game 2.
Most of the players assumed that all the Lakers needed was some home-cooking and their swagger and success would return, but unfortunately, they were dead wrong.
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Jamal Murray scored 37 points and the Denver Nuggets defeated the Lakers 119-108 in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
"You have to give Jamal Murray a lot of credit," said Nugget's head coach Mike Malone after the victory. "I thought Jamal was shooting into a big basket and his teammates were finding him. That's one thing I love about our team. If a guy has got it going, we're going to ride that guy. I thought tonight was a perfect example of it."
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The Lakers are now on the brink of elimination for the first time this postseason as the Nuggets have a stranglehold on the series 3-0, and can sweep the 17-time champions on Monday in Game 4.
"We just got to get one. Just one at a time," said LeBron James of the Lakers' mindset now facing elimination. "Just focus on Game 4. It's a one-game series for us."
Entering the game, the Lakers were a perfect 7-0 on their home floor, but now the Nuggets are the only team remaining in the playoffs that is perfect inside their own arena.
"We understood what we were getting ready to face," said Malone of how his team was so successful on the road in Game 3. "We fully expected LeBron and everybody else on that team to come out ultra aggressive. We had 17 turnovers for 21 points last game. We knew if we did that on the road in front of his crowd, this would be a really tough place to play."
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 28 points and 18 rebounds in the loss. LeBron James had 23 points and 12 assists. Austin Reaves also chipped in 23.
"Obviously right now I'm pissed off with how the outcome has come the last three games," said Reaves after the loss. "But like you said, our backs have been against the wall before. I've spoke about probably the last two months, maybe more than that since the trade deadline, swinging, throwing punches to fight to get to this opportunity. You know, we'll go watch film tomorrow, and we can either come out Monday and go home or we can fight for another day, and with the group of guys that we've got, I know what that answer will be."
Nikola Jokic, the two-time NBA MVP, was in foul-trouble for most of the game, but he dominated in the fourth quarter, finishing with 24 points in the victory.
"It's the playoffs. Every game is a must-win," said Jokic. "We came here with good focus. A good mindset. We played the game really good. They scored 108 points; I think that's a really good number. It's a really good game for us."
Despite being back on their home court, the Lakers didn't start the game as lively as they have during their previously perfect postseason stretch at Crypto.com Arena.
The reason is in large part due to Lakers' head coach Darvin Ham and his head-scratching decisions when it comes to his starting lineup.
It's evident to anyone watching the series that the Lakers have a size problem when it comes to their backcourt defense. Undersized D'Angelo Russell and Dennis Schröder are simply too small for the 6-foot-5 duo of Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Yet that didn't sop Ham from starting both of them together in Game 1 and Russell in Game 2.
The latter, is a series-high -53 when he is on the court, and has been targeted defensively by Denver in the half-court. Russell has also not provided much help offensively either. Because of that, most people thought a change in the starting lineup was not only needed, but inevitable.
Instead, Ham stuck with Russell and the Lakers trailed by 14 points in the first quarter by the time he went to the bench with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. With Russell guarding him, Murray carried over the momentum from his 23-point fourth quarter in Game 2, and scored an astonishing 30 points in the first half. Murray became just the fourth player in the past 25 years to now have three different halves with 30 or more points in the playoffs.
"No, I just thought we had the right mindset going in," said Murray, when asked if the momentum he had in Game 2 carried over to this game. "We knew the crowd was going to be into it, and they were. I thought we did a good job of just hitting first, on the road especially, and keeping that up even when they made a run. They came back I think it was like 71-71. But we were even in the quarter, and once we realized that, even when we weren't playing our best, we've just got to buckle down and do the things we did in the first half."
However, with Rusell on the bench for the remainder of first half, the Lakers went on a run, tying the game just before halftime, trailing by just three at the break.
But Rusell returned to start the second half and the Lakers could not build any sort of lead with him on the floor. Despite Jokic sitting for most of the third quarter with four fouls, and Murray held scoreless, the Lakers could not capitalize on their offensive advantage.
"I thought he had all good looks. He just has to remain aggressive," Ham said of Russell's performance in Game 3. "At the end of the day D-Lo is one of our biggest weapons. We are not sitting here in this position, even though we are down 0-3 in the Conference Finals thus far, we are not in this position without him. The numbers are one thing. Numbers are real. You have to pay attention to them, but at the end of the day, I just need D-Lo to go out there and play aggressive basketball."
Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope kept the Nuggets ahead with their stars struggling with 15 and 17 points, respectively.
"Nikola Jokic gets in foul trouble. This is a key time of the game. Are we going to survive with Nikola on the bench with four fouls? We did," said Malone. "I thought KCP was unbelievable during that stretch. Made big plays, made big shots. Our defense stepped up to hold water while Nikola was out."
Each and every time the Lakers made on a run to cut the game close, the Nuggets responded with one of their own. Rui Hachimura briefly gave the Lakers a lead at 82-81 at the start of the fourth quarter, but Denver scored 11 straight to put the game out of reach.
"After Rui made that, we went up one and then we had back-to-back turnovers, they hit two threes. We called time-out. That was the game," said James of the Nuggets' 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter. "We never got back in rhythm."
Speaking of stars, the arena was once again packed with celebrities on Saturday night. The Lakers may have disappointed on the court, but the City of Stars did not with the celebrities sitting courtside.
Adele, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Judson, Flea, Jake Gylenhall, Byron Allen, David Geffen, Pau Gasol, Dodd Romero, Denzel Washington, Dave Chapelle, Kim Kardashian, and Jack Nicholson were among the stars spotted at the game.
The Nuggets can close out the series in Game 4 on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30PM PST.
