After a 498-day drought, the Lakers staved off elimination by finally defeating the Denver Nuggets, 119-108,ąµ© in Gaāme 4 of their series.
Given the one-sidedness of the matchup up until now, there was palpable apprehension from Los Angeles heading into the contest. They had seen how this story had played out so many times before that each game had begun to resemble a rerun. However, threatened with getting swept by the Nuggets in two consecutive postseasons, the Lakers rewrote the script with a new ending on Saturday night. Behind a balanced attack and their most sustained performance against Denver to date, the team will live to see another day.With Game 5 officially set, flamšengo x fluminense:here are the three takeaways from the win the tš °eaź¦æm will need to replicate if they hope to extend the series.
Getting the inside edge
Although the gap between the two teams seems as big as the Grand Canyon, the Lakers and Nuggets share similar ideologies in their offensive approach. Namely, their love for the paint, and how they bully teams within it. In the regular season, both teams finished in the top five in makes in the paint, top four in the frequency of their shots at the rim and . Conversely, the Nuggets and Lakers both had an aversion from the deep end despite both ending the year among the league leaders in efficiency. Due to this, their matchups have often boiled down to two rams butting heads for paint dominance with the Nuggets proving to have the stronger horns. Game 4 proved to be the exception. The Lakers not only scored 20 more points in the paint, but also shot nearly 13% better on their chances at the rim as well. This was critical as it allowed the team to survive another lackluster shooting performance from beyond the arc. Beyond being the more aggressive and efficient team inside, Los Angeles found a way to win the battle of the boards with a 53-46 advantage. It was the first time in the series they have done so. This was largely thanks to yet another dominant performance from Anthony Davis. The centerās 20 defensive rebounds singlehandedly accounted for more than half of the Lakersā total output, and his 23 boards overall was an individual playoff record for him.Anthony Davis becomes just the third Laker to record at least 25+ PTS, 20+ REB, 5+ AST on 60+ FG% in a postseason game, joining Shaquille O'Neal and Wilt Chamberlain. ā NBA History (@NBAHistory)
The supporting cast provided support
It is often said the Lakers will only go as far as Davis and LeBron James take them. And while that is true, how much mileage they ultimately get depends on how much their teammates chip in for gas.For as good as the star duo have been thus far in the series, the conštributions from their suāpporting cast have been inconsistent at best.
Before Game 4, the previous high from the rest of the Lakersā starting lineup of DāAngelo Russell, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura was just 35 points. On Saturday, the trio who helped spearhead the teamās late-season push came up huge, pouring in 51 points in the potential elimination game. Taurean Prince also chipped in nine important points off the bench. After several matchups in which the āothersā came up short, the foursome's combined 60 points comprised the most balanced attack from the team in the series thus far. Although each player and basket contributed to the win, perhaps the most encouraging was the bounce-back performance from Russell. After going scoreless in Game 3 and feeling the wrath of the media and fans the past few days, the guard impressively responded with an efficient 21 points, four assists and a game-best +15 in the box score.Behind the back. Step back. Cash. ā Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers)
A second half to remember
During the ESPN broadcast of the game, the network aired a graphic that illustrated just how drastic the discrepancy has been between the two teams in time leading on the scoreboard.Heck of a graphic just now on on the Lakers-Nuggets:
ā Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews)
Lakers have led this series for 129:06
Denver has led this series for 41:53
Tied 14:07
Building leads hasnāt been the issue for Los Angeles, itās been protecting it. This has especially been thź¦e case in š±the second half of games.
Through the first four games, the Lakers have a stellar netRTG of +17.2 in the first two quarters. Thatās the third-best mark in the playoffs behind only the and Thunder. Itās worth noting that both are winning their respective series. Although they have consistently gotten off to encouraging starts, once halftime ends and the third quarter begins, the Lakersā carriage swiftly transforms into a pumpkin. Their -24.9 netRTG in the second halves of this series is the third-worst among postseason teams and has been the primary reason they find themselves trailing. This trend appeared it would continue in Game 4 after the Nuggets cut a 15-point lead to just nine early in the third quarter causing many Lakersā fans to experience traumatic flashbacks of previous Denver comebacks. With another heartbreak and sweep on the verge of happening, the Lakers did something they havenāt done in over a year ā withstand Denverās punch. Despite still ultimately being outscored in the second half once again, they did so this time by only two points. The key to finally maintaining control was their ability to score enough to keep pace with the Nuggetsā flurry. After averaging just 45 points in the second halves of the first three games, the Lakersā offense dropped 58 in Game 4. Serving as the teamās closer, James emphatically shut the door on the Nuggets, scoring 14 of his 30 points on the night in the fourth quarter. It remains to be seen if the Lakers can carry over their success on Saturday to Denver. But for at least one night, they were able to get over the hump, an important psychological win over the source of their reoccurring nightmare. The Nuggets do bleed. And if the Lakers have any hopes of making this a series, they will need to do the same things that pierced through their armor again.All stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass unless otherwise stated.
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