DENVER — The start was so promising, providing optimism that the Lakers could finally get over what feels like a Rocky Mountain-sized challenge in the Denver Nuggets.
But by the time Game 1 of this first-round playoff series reached the fourth quarter on Saturday night, the result felt inevitable and the same as the previous eight matchups between the two teams: a 114-103 Denver victory, giving the Nuggets the early advantage in the best-of-seven series.
“We was playing good basketball,” Lakers star LeBron James said. “Came out and got some good shots. We was able to connect on some shots and build up a 12-point lead. Obviously, they cut that lead to three at the half with the spurt they had in the second quarter. Which led them into the third, they rolled that momentum and got to a double-digit lead for themselves.”
The Lakers mostly hit the right buttons in the first quarter and benefited from the Nuggets’ early cold shooting.
LeBron James (27 points, eight assists, six rebounds) scored nearly half of his points (12) in the opening quarter. D’Angelo Russell (six first-quarter points) had a strong start. The Lakers pushed the pace frequently, attacked the paint as much as they could and limited their turnovers.
But as soon as the Lakers started to slip, the Nuggets made them pay.
First was the Lakers’ defensive rebounding, with the Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokić (32 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists), grabbing 15 offensive rebounds for 18 second-chance points, 10 more than the Lakers, who grabbed just six offensive boards.
The transition defense and paint defense also slid, with the Lakers not being crisp with getting back on defense once their shooting started to cool off, leading to 21 Denver fast-break points. The Nuggets committed just four turnovers – just one by their starters – while the Lakers turned the ball over a dozen times, including seven by James.
“You don’t have much room for error versus Denver’s team, especially at their home floor,” James said. “They’re just a team that’s been through everything. Obviously, they’re the defending champions, so you gotta execute, you gotta make shots, you gotta defend. And then you can’t give them extra possessions.”
And once the Nuggets’ perimeter shots started to fall, making six 3-pointers in the third quarter after making six in the first half, the Lakers struggled to keep up, watching leads of 33-25 at the end of the first and 60-57 at halftime turn into an 89-78 deficit by the end of the third.
“We got to come out and play with a sense of urgency,” Anthony Davis said. “We had some turnovers to start the third quarter. We got some bad shots, they got out in transition. They made some shots. But I think our sense of urgency was really low. Some uncharacteristic turnovers where we were just lazy. It wasn’t trying to make the right way. It was just live-ball turnovers that we can control that kind of got them going.”
Davis (32 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots) tried to will the Lakers back into the game, scoring 10 points in the fourth and helping cut the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 (91-86) to six (98-92) after his fadeaway jumper with 6:15 remaining.
But the Nuggets, as they typically have against the Lakers, made the right plays down the stretch.
Jokic ended the competitive part of the game with an emphatic dunk with 1:11 remaining, giving the Nuggets a 112-101 lead.
“It’s super frustrating obviously, especially against a team like them,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said. “You almost had to play a perfect game anyway because they don’t really make mistakes. And when you kind of get them into, say a 5-0, 7-0 run, they just slow everything down and get exactly where they need and they know exactly what they’re going to get.
“It’s frustrating because you know how sound they are as a team.”
Two other Nuggets had double-doubles – Jamal Murray had 22 points (9-for-24 shooting) and 10 assists, and Aaron Gordon had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Porter Jr. contributed 19 points and eight boards as Denver handed James just his fourth loss in 17 first-round playoff openers. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who scored all 12 of his points after halftime, made a trio of 3-pointers during a 13-0 run the Nuggets used to seize control in the third quarter.
Russell struggled with his shooting after the first, finishing with 13 points on 6-for-20 shooting (1 for 9 from 3-point range) – seven points for 3-for-15 shooting (1 for 7 on 3s) in the final three quarters. Saturday continued his postseason struggles against the Nuggets. He averaged 6.3 points on 32.3% shooting (13.3% from 3-point range) and 3.5 assists in last year’s Western Conference finals, a series in which Denver swept the Lakers.
“D-Lo is a huge reason why we’re here in the first place,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “I’m not going to bail out on my player just because he’s missing the shots that he normally makes. It just wasn’t his night. Shooters are going to have nights like that. But I want him to remain aggressive. That was a good thing, I saw him being aggressive. His energy remained great. He remained positive. So we’ll go back and try to get better from the film and try to have a better performance [in] Game 2.”
The Lakers haven’t beaten the Nuggets since Dec. 16, 2022, but they’ll try again Monday night in Game 2 at Ball Arena, where Denver is now 34-8 this season.
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Ham concurred with Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s postgame sentiment about expecting a competitive series.
“Everybody’s going to lose their mind over one game, and give them their credit, they held serve at home. They’re a tough home team, tough to beat in general, but they’re really good at home. … (But) we did a lot of good things out there tonight.”
James certainly didn’t sound rattled.
“I don’t ever get into the ‘here we go again’ mindset,” James said. “One game, they protected their home court. We have another opportunity on Monday to come back and be better. We know how challenging it’s going to be. We know how difficult this opponent is and how great they are.
“You start doubting? I don’t get into the doubting mindset. I’m the wrong guy to ask.”
