Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) shoots while Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson (8) and center Nikola Jokic defend during the first half of Game 4 of a first-round basketball playoff series of the NBA, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers finally broke the Denver Nuggets' stranglehold on this rivalry and extended their life in the NBA playoffs by at least one more game.
To absolutely no one's surprise, LeBron James led the way.
James scored 30 points, Anthony Davis added 25 points and 23 rebounds, and the Lakers avoided postseason elimination with a 119-108 victory over Denver in Game 4 of their first-round series on Saturday night.
D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves scored 21 points each for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who snapped their 11-game losing streak against the defending NBA champions with their first win over the Nuggets since December 2022.
Anthony Davis and LeBron James appear HUGE for the @Lakers to force a Game 5!
AD: 25 PTS | 23 REB | 6 AST | 64.7 FG%
LBJ: 30 PTS | 5REB | 4AST | 60.9 FG% pic.twitter.com/6yMjhswkI7-NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2024
A series with clear patterns and rhythms finally turned in the Lakers' favor. For the fourth consecutive game, Los Angeles took a double-digit lead before the Nuggets rallied in the second half behind Nikola Jokic.
But for the first time in this series, the Lakers did not give in to pressure from the defending champions. James, 39, scored 14 points in the fourth quarter on 6-of-8 shooting to beat the Lakers again at the end of his 21st NBA season.
Game 5 is Monday night in Denver.
READ: NBA Playoffs: LeBron and Lakers face elimination
“We gave ourselves another lifeline and it’s a one-game series for us,” James said. “Monday’s game is the most important game of the season for us and we understand that.”
Denver eliminated Los Angeles from the Western Conference finals last season, but the current Lakers responded to that 0-3 deficit with a performance more befitting a team that reached the postseason with 12 wins in 15 games.
“We have another opportunity to play one more game and if we win, come back and play another and keep moving forward from there,” Reaves said. “The odds are not in our favor, but whenever we can stay afloat above water and give ourselves the opportunity to do something special, we will be up for the challenge.”
Jokic had 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists for his 18th career triple-double and second in this series, but the two-time MVP and his teammates were unable to reassert their usual late-game dominance over the Lakers.
The Lakers' 19-point lead with just over six minutes remaining narrowed to 113-106 on Jokic's three-point play with 1:25 left, but Reaves hit a short jumper before adding four free throws in the minute. Final.
Ultimately, Denver couldn't overcome yet another slow offensive start in a series full of them.
READ: NBA: Nuggets on the brink of sweeping Lakers with Game 3 victory
“Of course we want to (start faster), but I learned in horse racing that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Jokic said. “We didn't finish today very well, so I hope we can do a better job. But yes, we want to be on top and control the game, but it seems like that hasn’t happened for us.”
Michael Porter Jr. had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Denver, and Jamal Murray scored 22 points while going 0 for 4 on 3-point attempts. Aaron Gordon had just seven points for the Nuggets after scoring 29 in Game 3 during the highest-scoring playoff game of his career — but offense wasn't the Nuggets' problem, according to coach Michael Malone.
“The paint (defense) was a joke,” Malone said after his team allowed an impressive 72 points in the paint.
“Every meeting, I sounded like a broken record tonight,” Malone added. “Every meeting was, 'Paint, paint, paint.' (In) Game 3, they scored 70 and we found a way to win. Tonight, they had 72. It's an incredible number. …I just didn’t think we had the physicality or the urgency necessary. This didn’t feel like a closing game.”
The second-seeded Nuggets also lost a decisive game in the first round last season while up 3-0 over Minnesota, but Denver won the series in five games and lost just three more times on the way to its first title.
While Jokic was prolific and James took the spotlight late, Davis stood out for the fourth game in a row. His 23 rebounds matched his playoff career high, and he even shared the Lakers team lead with six assists.
“It’s hard to get swept up,” Davis said. “Nobody wants that feeling, especially going into the summer. You have to live with that feeling for the rest of the summer. So we didn't really talk about it. We know what's at stake. No one wants that feeling in their mouth for the rest of the summer. The way we played tonight is the way we have to play the rest of the series.”
The Lakers didn't give up in their dire circumstances in Game 4, scoring 44 points in the first half to take their fourth halftime lead of the series.
The Lakers extended their lead to 15 points in the third quarter and continued to grow until the final minutes, when Jokic and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sparked a Nuggets comeback.
“They were really pushing the pace,” Jokic said. “They had open trays. They were destroying us in the paint. We couldn't get a shot off. They also couldn't shoot (sometimes), but it seemed like that really affected our defense. It’s a great team.”
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Reggie Jackson played nine minutes for Denver despite spraining his ankle in the second half of Game 3.
Caleb Williams, the Heisman Trophy-winning former USC quarterback and the No. 1 overall pick in this weekend's NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, watched the game from the court.
