The Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) won two consecutive victories against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
Denver defeated the Lakers 108-103 in the home game of the second leg of the 2022-23 NBA Western Conference Finals (4 wins from 7 matches) held at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, USA on the 19th (Korean time).
Denver, who swept the first and second games at home, went on an away road with light steps. The two teams will play Game 3 on the 21st at the Lakers home, Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
The two teams, who met in the final stage of the Western Conference after three years, played a tight seesaw game until the beginning of the fourth quarter. When the Lakers ran away, Denver followed suit.
The flow of the game began to tilt toward Denver toward the middle of the fourth quarter. In particular, the performance of Denver’s Jamal Murray shone.
Murray, who scored a 3-point shot to give Denver an 84-83 lead at the beginning of the 4th quarter, boosted his momentum by making 3 3-pointers in the next 6 minutes.
The downtrodden Lakers offense faltered, and in the meantime, Denver accumulated points one by one, leading to 101-94 with three minutes left in the game.
Murray took the lead in the victory by making 4 out of 5 3-pointers only in the 4th quarter. The cornered Lakers attempted a foul operation, but the head hit 7 of the 8 free throws it got.
Murray, who scored 23 points in the 4th quarter alone, scored 37 points, the most for both teams, and grabbed 10 rebounds. Denver ace Nikola Jokic also led the team to two consecutive victories with a triple-double performance of 23 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists.
On the other hand, the Lakers fought hard, with main players LeBron James and Austin Reeves scoring 22 points each, but cried at the lack of support. It was unfortunate that Anthony Davis scored rather poorly with 18 points.