LA LAKERS @ DENVER (DEN -7, 217)
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LAKERS VS. NUGGETS 4/29/24
Against Denver on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers put an end to nearly two seasons of frustration and survived the Western Conference quarterfinal series. Making NBA history is the new objective.
Although the Lakers still have a lot of work ahead of them, their 11-game losing streak against the defending champions ended on Saturday night with a 119-108 victory over the Nuggets in Game 4. Game 5 is tonight in Denver.
LeBron James, who scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, is also aware that, despite four teams forcing a seventh game, teams trailing 3-0 in an NBA series have never actually won a playoff series. The Boston Celtics attempted it most recently in the Eastern Conference finals of the previous season, but they were defeated by Miami in Game 7.
Los Angeles is sure it can be the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit. The Nuggets rallied to win the first three games of the series despite the Lakers holding a double-digit lead for the majority of the series. Los Angeles held strong after Denver made a run on Saturday night.
With 25 points and 23 rebounds, Anthony Davis led the Lakers in their dominance of the paint in Game 4. Of its 119 points, Los Angeles scored 72 in the lane. Denver head coach Michael Malone was not happy with his team’s defense in the paint.
The Nuggets anticipated that Davis and James would get their points, but with 21 points apiece, D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves made the difference. Russell's series has been quite unpredictable. In Game 2, he made a playoff career-high seven three-pointers. Then, in Game 3, he went scoreless. On Saturday night, Russell drained four three-pointers, one of which came late in the fourth quarter and prevented Denver from putting together another late comeback.
Jamal Murray has had difficulty with his shooting in this series. His field goal percentage is only 38.0 percent, and his three-point field goal percentage is only 20.8. On Saturday night, he shot just 9 out of 23 and missed all four of his three-point attempts.
Denver would prefer to finish the series tonight, but they still have home-court advantage. They’ve also beaten the Lakers in 11 of their last 12 meetings. Denver is 6-0 in its last six home games and 7-0 in its last seven at home against Los Angeles.
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FREE PICK: D’ANGELO RUSSELL OVER 15.5 POINTS
Russell has been extremely inconsistent in this series, but with the status of Jamal Murray in question Russell becomes a key to the Lakers’ success. Since acquiring Russell, the Lakers are 8-1 SU and 9-0 ATS in playoff games where Russell scores at least 17 points. You can bet Darvin Ham knows this and will do whatever it takes to get Russell his looks. Russell has hit this number in 9 of his last 15 games. He averaged 18 points per game this season and, minus his non-existent Game 3, he’s hit this number in two of his last three games.
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