Jamal Murray dominated the first half and Nikola Jokic came alive in the fourth quarter as Denver Nuggets moved within one win of a sweep with a 119-108 victory over Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals last night.
Murray scored 30 of his 37 points in the first half and Jokic shook off a slow start with 15 of his 24 in the fourth quarter to give Denver Nuggets a 3-0 lead in the series.
The top-seeded, Denver Nuggets can complete the sweep in Game 4 today and secure the franchise’s first-ever NBA Finals appearance.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 17 points, Bruce Brown had 15 and Michael Porter Jr. tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Denver Nuggets, who trailed by one before outscoring Los Angeles Lakers 26-14 over the final 7 1/2 minutes.
Anthony Davis had 28 points and 18 rebounds and LeBron James and Austin Reaves each added 23 points, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Los Angeles Laskes from its first three-game losing streak since early February.
Los Angeles Lakers, who had a nine-game home win streak snapped, are faced with trying to become the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-0 playoff series deficit.
Jeff Green, Brown and Murray hit consecutive 3-pointers as part of a 13-0 run by Denver Nuggets that turned a 94-93 deficit into a 106-94 lead with less than five minutes remaining.
Los Angeles Lakers responded with the next four points, but Jokic sank two free throws and hit a 3-pointer and Murray made a layup to push the advantage to 113-101 with 2:47 to go.
James made three 3-pointers after starting the series 0 for 13 from long range.
