Hahahaha, the fourth game of the Lakers against the Nuggets became a game that shocked everyone. The game showed everyone that no one could beat James' Los Angeles Lakers 12 times in a row.
Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs was the Lakers' first 119-108 win over the Denver Nuggets since December 16, 2022, and a win in this game avoided becoming the first team to be eliminated from the playoffs. What's not optimistic is that they are still down 3-1 and will return to the Nuggets' home court in the next game.
The Lakers easily built a double-digit lead from the start, holding the lead for most of the game, leading by at least 10 points in the first half of the three losses in the series so far before starting to crumble in the second half, but did not make a few mistakes in the game, withstood the pressure and finally pulled one back.
How do the Lakers maintain the upper hand in the game?
At the end of the third quarter, the Lakers were really taken aback by the Nuggets. The Nuggets trailed the score to 15 points at the start of the fourth quarter, putting a lot of pressure on the Lakers. When the Nuggets chased the score to 7 points with 85 seconds left, the suspense of the game rose sharply, but fortunately, the subsequent Nuggets' offense was blocked, and they had to take foul tactics, and the Lakers' Rivers made all free throws to help the Lakers win the game.
Having watched the game at full-time, the difference between the two teams is mainly reflected in defence. Jokic scored 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists, Michael Porter Jr. also contributed 27 points, and Murray scored 22 points, but he had a bad performance throughout the game, Aaron Gordon only got 7 points and 3 rebounds on 9 of 23 shots, which was simply heaven and earth with his performance in the third game, except for these two, the starters played okay, the bad thing was that the Nuggets rotation lineup did not perform well, and the Nuggets bench players scored a total of 5 points, such a poor performance, it was simply whimsical to want to win.
Anthony Davis was definitely the number one contributor to the Lakers' victory, scoring 25 points and 23 rebounds in the game, and he alone grabbed half of the Lakers' total rebounds, which also gave the Lakers a huge advantage with a 72-52 score inside.
However, it is very unusual that the Lakers have very few free throws in this game, only 18, and the Nuggets have 25, and the number of free throws is less than that of the opponent, which is rare for the Lakers, which also proves the rationality of the Lakers' play in this game, the team rotates smoothly, the success rate of defense is very high, and the strength of the opposing players is comparable, everything is the reason why the Lakers have fewer than their opponents and can still win.
To say that in addition to the thick eyebrows in this game, James's contribution is also a big reason for the Lakers' victory, 30 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, is the Lakers' highest scoring player, his high score is the cornerstone of the Lakers' victory, especially his incredible pursuit of blocks in the third quarter, reminiscent of his jump that went down in history in the 2016 NBA Finals.
The Lakers' situation is still grim, but not impossible
0-3 behind, it is not impossible to turn the tables, you have to believe that James has the ability to create miracles, this game Lakers put all the passion, spirit, state and other things together to achieve today's victory.
History tells us that no team has ever come back from 0-3 down. It doesn't matter because the Lakers' win gives us hope. From 0-3 to 1-3, the historic breakthrough gave everyone hope, and you can imagine the future of the Lakers as much as you want.
Having said all this, there is also a conspiracy theory: the Nuggets deliberately let go of this game and played it for everyone to see, avoiding the Lakers from becoming the first team to be eliminated in the playoffs and saving some face for the Lakers. After all, the first person in the league, the face of that GOAT is still there. Then in the next game, get yourself promoted with a big win at the Nuggets' home court!