The Los Angeles Lakers now lead 3-1 against Denver and are only one victory away from the NBA Finals, after their success (114-108) on Thursday.
The Lakers are only one victory away from the NBA Finals, ten years after the last ones, won in 2010 with a certain Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in January. Carried by 34 points from Anthony Davis and LeBron James, determining in the money-time, they defeated (114-108) Denver who will still have to make a fantastic comeback to stay alive, as they did Utah and then the Clippers in the previous rounds after being led 3-1 each time.
LeBron got the clutch stop on Jamal ? pic.twitter.com/xxumPmDuaf
– SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 25, 2020
The force of habit and their remarkable basketball, especially on the offensive plan in the wake of Jamal Murray, still formidable (32 pts, 8 assists), has enough to give them some certainty. But in the meantime it is LA which is in a very favorable position.
This success was still difficult to obtain, even if the Californian team consistently led in the score. She could never really escape: at each run of 7-8 points in a row, Denver was able to respond with another. But she had the merit of never doubting or letting her opponent reverse this repeated trend.
Davis embodied that mindset. He started with a 7/7 on shots (to finish at 10/15), before scaring his entire camp by twisting his left ankle on receiving a shot in the 4th quarter. He gritted his teeth and secured the victory with two final free throws and a rebound that extinguished the opposing hopes.
As for LeBron James, very close to a new triple-double (26 pts, 9 rebounds, 8 assists), he took his responsibilities at the very end of the match, by going for free throws in penetration and by effectively defending Jamal Murray, THE big danger of the Nuggets who had Nikola Jokic in half-hearted (16 pts, 7 assists) on this 4th game. The Serbian will have to be strong next Saturday, because Murray won’t be able to do a miracle on his own.
