Star's 'crazy shot' helps Nuggets seal 44-year first

Denver Nuggets defender Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was playing for the Los Angeles Lakers the past clip these teams met successful the Western Conference finals successful the 2020 NBA bubble.

So, what similarities does helium spot betwixt LeBron James and Nikola Jokic?

“I consciousness similar the lone quality is Bron tin leap higher than Jokic,” Caldwell-Pope declared aft Jokic's monster show fuelled the Nuggets' 132-126 triumph successful crippled 1 connected Wednesday AEST.

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“That's truly offensive,” Jokic replied successful faux indignation astir his diversion abilities. “I'm joking. I mean, to beryllium compared to 1 of the champion ever — oregon THE champion ever — I deliberation is truly cool."

Jokic doesn't truly spot galore similarities successful their play: “We impact the crippled successful antithetic ways,” Jokic said. "But he’s a truly bully player."

Nikola Jokic was unstoppable against the Lakers, finishing with 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists (Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag)

Nobody was amended than Jokic successful the bid opener.

Jokic recorded his sixth triple-double of these playoffs with 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists, powering the Nuggets to a 1-0 pb successful the series.

Behind Jokic's sizzling commencement and beardown finish, and Jamal Murray's 31 points portion battling an receptor infection, Denver bushed the Lakers successful the opener of the West finals for the archetypal clip ever.

After a dilatory start, Anthony Davis had 40 points and 10 rebounds, and James finished with 26 points, 12 boards and 9 assists. Austin Reaves chipped successful 23 points and fueled LA's hopeless fourth-quarter tally that astir erased Denver's 14-point cushion aft three.

Caldwell-Pope scored 21 points against his erstwhile team. Michael Porter Jr. had 15 points and 10 boards and Bruce Brown added 16 points.

It was a match-up of ascendant large men arsenic Lakers prima Anthony Davis added 40 points and 10 rebounds to 2 blocks (Matthew Stockman via Getty Images)

The Nuggets led by arsenic galore arsenic 21 but the Lakers pulled wrong 3 points doubly successful the 4th quarter, erstwhile connected Reaves’ three-pointer astatine 124-121 and again connected James’ brace of escaped throws that made it 129-126 with 1:12 remaining.

“Yeah, it took america a fractional to get into the game,” James said, “and that was beauteous overmuch the ballgame close there. They punched america successful the rima to commencement ... I cognize the crippled is won successful 48 minutes, but they acceptable the code successful 24 minutes and we were playing catch-up for the adjacent 24.”

In the 4th quarter, Rui Hachimura guarded Jokic, allowing Davis to assemblage the overgarment and marque things harder for the Nuggets large antheral to predominate the paint. But it wasn't enough.

After Jokic sank 2 escaped throws with 26 seconds near to springiness Denver a 131-126 lead, Murray poked the shot from James arsenic helium was astir to instrumentality it to the hoop and Jokic gathered the escaped shot earlier being fouled with 10.9 seconds left. He sank 1 of 2 and James misfired from 3 arsenic the seconds ticked off.

LeBron James finished with 26 points but missed a precocious three-pointer that would've levelled the scores (Denver Post via Getty Images)

“I'd alternatively cleanable things up aft a triumph successful the Western Conference finals than aft a loss, truthful I volition instrumentality it," Nuggets manager Michael Malone said. “But overmuch enactment to do.”

Game 2 connected Friday greeting AEST astatine Ball Arena, wherever the top-seeded Nuggets are 7-0 successful the playoffs and 41-7 overall, the champion location grounds successful the league this season.

Jokic said a time earlier that the Nuggets desperately needed to debar pursuing successful the sneaker-steps of the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors, some of whom dropped their location opener to the Lakers and coiled up losing successful six games.

Moreover, James has won his past 20 playoff bid successful which his squad has won the opener.

The Nuggets hadn’t taken crippled 1 against the Lakers since 1979, erstwhile they won the opener of the best-of-three bid lone to suffer the adjacent two. That’s the closest the Nuggets person ever travel to eliminating the Lakers, who person beaten Denver 3 times successful the West finals, including successful the Florida bubble successful 2020.

Flashing his MVP credentials successful a stunning show of powerfulness successful the archetypal quarter, Jokic pulled down a twelve boards and dished retired 5 assists to spell with 8 points. That made him the archetypal subordinate since astatine slightest 1997 to person a twelve oregon much boards and astatine slightest 5 assists successful immoderate 4th of an NBA playoff game.

The Lakers utilized an 11-2 tally to chopped the shortage to 11 points earlier Jokic responded with a jaw-dropping three-pointer implicit the outstretched limb of Davis that hardly fluttered the nett astatine the buzzer, leaving Davis to trudge backmost to the seat successful disbelief.

“Sometimes luck is connected our side,” Jokic said. “It's a brainsick shot, of course.”

The “Joker,” who missed retired connected his 3rd consecutive NBA MVP grant this twelvemonth erstwhile helium was edged by Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, had 19 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks by fractional clip arsenic the Nuggets took a 72-54 pb into the locker room.

“Thank God it’s the best-of-seven and it’s not the NCAA Tournament,” Lakers manager Darvin Ham said. "It’s the archetypal to four. We’ll beryllium OK, spot me.”

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