Jamal Murray scores 23 of his 37 points in the 4th quarter, leading the Nuggets to a Game 2 win.
DENVER – Tack on another milestone for the Denver Nuggets, which downed the Los Angeles Lakers 108-103 in Game 2 on Thursday to seize a 2-0 edge in the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.
As earsplitting “Beat L.A.” chants swept through 19,742 in attendance at Ball Arena, the scoreboard screen flashed images of disappointed Lakers fans scrambling to the exits. Teams taking a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals since 1970-71 have ultimately finished 56-6 in the series. But even as two-time Kia MVP Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon greeted giggling children in a hallway leading back to the Nuggets locker room, you could sense the celebratory nature of the moment fleeing fast.
Maybe they know LeBron James starred on two (2007, ’18) of the six teams that bounced back from 0-2 deficits.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” said Denver coach Michael Malone. “You’ve got to win a game on the other team’s home court if you really want to do something in a series. This is not cause for celebration.”
Nope, it’s time to rest, take in treatment and buckle down for the next phase of this arduous journey: Saturday’s Game 3 (8:30 ET, ABC) on the road at Crypto.com Arena. The Game 2 triumph extended the Nuggets’ longest home win streak to start a postseason to eight games. But Denver is 2-3 on the road in the 2023 playoffs and has lost two of its last three road playoff games, too. And we haven’t forgotten the Nuggets shooting off to a 2-0 lead against Phoenix in the conference semifinals, only to lose Games 3 and 4 as the Suns tied that series.
Denver now prepares to face a desperate Lakers team that hasn’t lost at home since March 26. In fact, Los Angeles hasn’t dropped consecutive contests since mid-March. But it’s worth pointing out the Lakers are 0-3 in conference finals series after falling behind 2-0.
“They’re like us, they’re undefeated at home,” said Lakers coach Darvin Ham. “We knew it was going to be a challenge, a hard one at that. And we said — before we even played one game — we’ve got to buckle in and buckle up because we planned for this to be a long series. They held serve on their home floor, and the higher levels you get to, you’re going to face much tougher teams. No disrespect to Memphis or Golden State, but this team has been at the top of the food chain for a reason. We’ll bounce back on our home floor.”
Before that though, let’s run through five takeaways from a highly competitive Game 2:
1. Triple-double maestro
We know, we know. By now, you’re pretty much used to Jokic’s hoops artistry. That doesn’t make it any less impressive. Jokic produced yet another triple-double (23 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists) in Game 2, marking his fourth in a row this postseason and fifth in his last six outings. The one game? That was when he blistered the Suns for a 53-point, 11-assist performance in a Game 4 loss during the semis.
“The thing you love about Nikola is he’s going to read the game,” Malone said. “He never goes into a game or a possession with a premeditated notion of this is what I’m doing because he’s going to read how the defense is guarding him and us.”
Jokic just continues to churn out one of those special postseason runs that later down the line will spawn the answers to multiple sports trivia questions. No. 3 all-time in postseason triple-doubles (13), Jokic became the first player to post four consecutive triple-doubles in NBA playoff history and is now one of just two players to tally seven triple-doubles in one postseason (surprise, surprise, Wilt Chamberlain is the other).
Amazingly, given the Nuggets’ relative obscurity with the national audience, many fans are just starting to discover the brilliance of the former two-time Kia MVP.
“We don’t need the media attention,” Jokic said. “We’re going out there and trying to win the game. We’re going to be quiet. We’re not going to talk about it.”
With Jokic leading the way, Denver out-rebounded the Lakers 49-40, moving to 10-1 overall and 8-0 at home when winning the battle on the glass.
Nikola Jokic finishes with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists in gthe Game 2 win.
2. When Murray goes for 30 …
Generally, winning follows when Murray morphs into scoring-machine mode. The point guard reeled off 23 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2, marking his fourth career 20-point fourth quarter in the playoffs, which also registers as the most of any player in the last 25 seasons. No other active player has produced more than one 20-point fourth quarter in the playoffs.
Malone mentioned Murray was shooting the ball “through a hula hoop.” Denver, meanwhile, is 5-1 this postseason when Murray scores at least 30 points, and the 26-year-old is now tied with Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum and Jokic in the 2023 playoffs for the second-most such games (eliminated Stephen Curry and Devin Booker each logged seven 30-point games this postseason).
Headed into the fourth quarter, Murray had shot just 5-for-17 (14 points). So, Malone told his frustrated point guard as the final frame started to focus on defense, and then build off of that.
Done deal.
“Once you see a couple go in, it can get rolling,” Murray said. “I was able to just find a little separation and just rise up over the top and make some shots.”
Jamal Murray explodes for 37 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists to help surge the Nuggets to a Game 2 victory over the Lakers.
3. Hachimura impactful again
Rui Hachimura generated headlines in Game 1 for his late defensive contributions in limiting Jokic to 0-for-2 from the field with two turnovers down the stretch that the Lakers converted into four points. The 24-year-old flipped the script in Game 2 by making his impact felt on the other end of the floor, tying Lamar Odom for the hottest shooting half by a Laker since 2008.
Hachimura drilled each of his first seven shots in scoring a game-high 17 points in the first half, with 11 of those points coming in the second quarter alone. Overall, he finished Game 2 with 21 points. In his previous 13 postseason contests, Hachimura averaged 11.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game after posting 9.6 ppg in 33 regular-season games with L.A.
As expected, Hachimura once again took part in the team’s efforts to slow Jokic. But the Nuggets’ center worked Hachimura for seven of his team-high 16 points in the first half on 3-for-4 shooting while logging seven more points against Anthony Davis as the primary defender, and two against Jarred Vanderbilt.
Hachimura’s fast start comes as no surprise, considering he kickstarted Los Angeles surprising postseason run with a playoff career-high 29 points in Game 1 of the opening round against the Memphis Grizzlies.
4. James’ deep shooting woes
It’s wild to ponder James missing 19 consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth quarter dating back to Game 2 of the opening round of the playoffs. But that’s where we are, and it’s the longest deep shooting slump by any player over the last 25 postseasons.
Game 2 marked the first time since a six-day span in May of 2018 that James failed to hit a 3-pointer in consecutive playoff games. The four-time former MVP is connecting on just 23.3% from 3-point range in the playoffs, his worst postseason 3-point percentage since 2014-15 (22.7%).
James scored a team high-tying 22 points in Game 2, but missed all six of his 3-point attempts.
James and Davis combined for 40 points on the night, but Los Angeles is 2-6 in the 2023 playoffs when the superstar duo can’t crack the 40-point plateau.
More concerning is when James stepped on Aaron Gordon’s foot late in Game 2, twisting his left ankle. Los Angeles’ medical staff evaluated James after the game, and Ham said “it will be hard to keep him out of this mix” for Game 3.
After dropping the first two games of the Western Conference finals to the Nuggets, the Lakers face a pivotal opening to Game 3 in L.A.
5. Russell still viable in this series?
It’s a fair question to ask, considering the team sits at minus-41 in the 59 minutes with Russell on the floor this series, compared to plus-30 in the 37 minutes the point guard has been off it. There’s a good chance the Lakers elect to revert back to playing Dennis Schroder in the starting lineup for Game 3. Schroder has started in just two games throughout the postseason.
Interestingly, Malone mentioned Wednesday that Russell’s situation made for “an interesting storyline.”
“In Game 1, a guy that’s played really well for them was not on the floor in the fourth quarter in D’Angelo Russell,” Malone said. “Are they going to play him? Are they not going to play him?”
The Lakers elected the former, and Russell contributed 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting, finishing the night with a game-worst plus-minus (minus-16).
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