The Los Angeles Lakers made the break in the final of the Western Conference against Denver by winning (105-103) in the second game. Anthony Davis gave them the victory with a three-point shot at the buzzer.
And Anthony Davis rose: a three-point buzzer shot from the star winger of the Lakers got the better of a still fantastic but unsuccessful comeback from Denver, finally beaten (105-103) and now led 2 to 0 in the NBA Western Conference Finals. “I’m ready to handle this kind of pressure, I want to take this kind of shots, I want to live these moments”, hammered afterwards Davis, who lives his first games at this stage of the play-offs and that the Lakers have brought in a year ago to support LeBron James in the quest for a 16th league title.
However, he did more than that in this match number 2, confirming a trend seen in the first where he finished with 37 points: he was the boss of the team in the second half, during which he scored 22 of his 31 points (9 rebounds, 2 blocks), when James started strong by scoring 20 points in the first two quarters (26 in total, 11 rebounds) before weighing less in the game.
Denver recovered 13 points behind
Davis’ performance is as impressive as the blow is hard for the Nuggets, long behind, but who erased a 16-point deficit in the 3rd quarter, to pick up the score seven minutes from the end and even lead ( 87-86). But, unlike their exploits punctuated by a knockout against the Clippers in the previous round, they could not entirely reverse the situation. It really didn’t matter much in a dantesque money-time, which spiced up a meeting that had hitherto not been very exciting.
After three three-point baskets from Rajon Rondo (9 assists), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (11 pts) and already Davis, who gave the lead to LA (99-92), Denver then released his “Joker”. And Nikola Jokic (30 pts, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 interceptions), extraordinary in cold blood too, then put on 11 consecutive points, including his first long-distance shoot in three matches (!) And a tap after a shoot countered by Jamal Murray (25 pts) to lead (103-102).
The last possession saw the still excellent Alex Caruso miss the target behind the arc and, on the rebound, Danny Green was blocked by Murray, who was avenging the same Green’s block on his early-game dunk. But on the throw-in, with 2”1 to play, Davis took responsibility – ahead of Jokic, with whom they engaged in a titanic duel – for the winning shot which had the effect of a big blow to the Nuggets.
“A big shot, made by a player of the great moments. We are in the final of the Western conference … The message is this: we are led 2-0, let’s go ahead and win the third game”, a commented Denver coach Michael Malone, struggling to hide his disappointment. Tuesday’s meeting is already crucial for the Colorado franchise if it wants to contradict the history that links it to the Lakers in the play-offs, who emerged victorious from their previous six confrontations, including the last in 2009 which saw Kobe Bryant win the 4th of his five rings with LA
