In a repeat of final season’s Western Convention finals matchup, Denver received Sport 1 over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The defending champion Denver Nuggets, fueled by Nikola Jokic’s 32 factors, recovered from a sluggish begin to beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 114-103 within the first recreation of their first-round playoff sequence of the NBA.
The Nuggets, who swept the Lakers in 4 video games within the Western Convention finals en path to their first title final season, continued their dominance over star-studded Los Angeles on Saturday.
Jokic added 12 rebounds and 7 assists, Jamal Murray added 22 factors with 10 assists and Michael Porter Jr scored 19 for the Nuggets, who took benefit of a 13-0 scoring run to take command within the third quarter, through which they restricted the Lakers at 18. factors.
James scored 32 factors and grabbed 14 rebounds and Anthony Davis added 27 for the Lakers, who lower a 15-point deficit to 6 early within the fourth quarter just for the Nuggets to drag away once more.
Jokic’s solely 3-pointer of the sport elevated the Nuggets’ result in 103-93. He added a dunk over James, who took a tough fall with a minute left, however stayed within the recreation till the bitter finish.
“You must change your mentality,” Jokic stated of the Nuggets’ third-quarter resurgence. “I assumed the second half protection was unimaginable.”
Lakers coach Darvin Ham stated the Nuggets’ 15-6 offensive rebounding benefit was key as Denver racked up 18 second-chance factors.
“They cannot be allowed to get a number of possessions,” Ham stated, including that he nonetheless believed the best-of-seven sequence, which resumes Monday, shall be a “very shut” affair.
The sport was the closing of the primary day of the playoffs, through which the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Phoenix Suns 120-95, the New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 111-104 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic by 97-83.
