Nuggets frustrate Lakers for 2-0 lead

DENVER

— Jamal Murray scored 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, propelling the Denver Nuggets to a 108-103 come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night (Friday, Manila time) for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Nikola Jokic had his 13th playoff triple-double with 23 points, 17 rebounds and a dozen assists for the Nuggets, who have never been this close to reaching the NBA Finals in their history.

Game 3 is Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, where LeBron James and the Lakers are

8-0 in the playoffs.

Murray missed 12 of his 17 shots through three quarters but found his touch in the fourth, going 6 for 7, including four 3-pointers and fueling a 15-1 run that gave Denver a 9684 lead.

Bruce Brown and Michael Porter Jr. contributed to the

Nuggets’ hot shooting.

Just like in Game 1, the Lakers didn’t go down easily. They pulled to three points on Austin Reaves’ jumper before Murray sank two free throws with 12 seconds left and Bruce Brown stole the ball from James, then dribbled out the final 8 seconds.

The Nuggets improved to 41-8 at home, best in the NBA, including 8-0 in the playoffs.

James and Reaves both scored 22 for Los Angeles. Anthony Davis scored 18 after pouring in 40 in the opener and Rui Hachimra scored 21 points off the bench.

Lebron James and his gang were leading all the way but subsequent lapses in defense allowed the Nuggets to snatch Game 2 and put the Lakers in deep trouble.

As I started scoring the game midway in the first quarter, Riu Hachimura was Lebron’s best performing teammate even as he had to cover the two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic who bumped him every now and then.

The Japanese-born NBAer remarkably poured in 17 pts in the first half to help propel the Lakers to a 53-49 halftime lead.

But it was the small but shifty

For much of the night, it appeared as though the Lakers would wrest home-court advantage from the Nuggets, who are the top seed for the first time in their history. The Lakers won the series openers at Memphis and Golden State to reach the conference championship.

The outstanding defense Hachimura played on Jokic in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ loss in Game 1 led many to believe coach Darvin Ham would start Hachimura to try to stymie the Nuggets’ star center from the start. But instead he came off the bench again.

And what a spark he provided, sinking all seven of his firsthalf shots for a game-high 17 points at the half. His 3-pointer and pull-up jumper sparked a 9-0 run to open the second quarter and put the Lakers in charge despite slow starts from James and Davis, each of whom were held to two points in the first quarter.

James’ breakaway dunk made it 68-57 midway through the third quarter, but the Nuggets got back into it with a 10-0 run and took their first lead since the first quarter when FNUGGETS, P8

Denver pointguard Jamal Murray who took charge in the fourth, tossing in two triples to create space for the Nuggets, 101-94, 2:55 remaining.

LA responded with a couple of threes from Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves to close the gap somewhat, 99-101, 1:02 left.

Murray sank two charities for 103-99 and then Davis missed a three from the flank. The Nuggets turned the ball over but James missed a lay-up and Murray was fouled anew, 24 ticks to go.

Murray was sent to the 15foot line four times on successive

Laker fouls to add 8 more points and get the win for Denver at the end of the buzzer, 108-103.

LA led 68-59 on baskets by James D’Angelo Russel, Dennis Schroder and Davis but the pesky Murray kept hitting his strides, igniting a 18-point blast from the arc - four by himself and one each from Porter and Brown for a 9984 bubble, 5:30 in the game.

Then Reaves broke LA’s silence with a three, and a lay-up and jumper from Lebron for a 9199 score.

My personal analysis is that Lebron has been playing a low key role, issuing assists to Davis inside the paint and acting as a decoy.

Unfortunately, he should be producing the points to attract Denver’s defense so that Davis can do his stuff inside without getting double teamed.

LA also should send in Tristan Thompson to provide help inside the paint and give Jokic the body bang he used to do during his stint at Cleveland with James himself.

In the first two matches, the seven foot Denver slotman has not been intimidated by the shallow LA defense.

But credit the Game 2 win to Murray who simply was outstanding orchestrating the offense as well as producing the points when necessary.

Ideally, James and company will go for broke in Games 3 and 4 at home to level up matters so that there will not be much pressure when the Lakers go back to Mile High City in Game 5. As it was, LA failed to grab the homecourt advantage and that means more hard work for James and AD. (Email feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!