Global Courant 2023-05-23 08:29:35
Nikola Jokic is a player unlike almost anything the NBA has ever seen, and now he’s taking his Denver Nuggets where they’ve never been.
Jokic had 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists, and the visiting Nuggets advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in team history on Monday night, where they won the Western Conference Finals with a 113-111 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kitchener, Ont. native Jamal Murray scored 25 points for the top-seeded Nuggets, who beat LeBron James’ first-half 31-point and 15-point halftime deficit with a stubborn finish in Game 4 to win their first conference title in their 47 NBA seasons. seasons.
“It’s incredible,” Murray said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s surreal. We’re going to keep making history, that’s what matters. We’re going to keep that mindset.”
Jokic earned his eighth triple-double of the playoffs by the third quarter, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s 1967 NBA record for triple-doubles in a single postseason. The bulky Serbian center with the grace of a point guard also led the Nuggets’ gritty defensive effort despite his fifth foul midway through the fourth quarter.
With his eighth triple-double of the 2023 Playoffs, Nikola Jokić set a record for most triple-doubles in a single postseason (previously held by Wilt Chamberlain, seven in 1967). pic.twitter.com/Uu1Xsm3Wdt
Jokic didn’t get off the floor for the last 33 minutes of Game 4 – and when Denver needed a big basket, Jokic did. He charged past Anthony Davis for the final points of the game on a layup with 51 seconds left to play.
“I think that’s why playoffs are so fun and interesting, because you don’t care how tired you are,” said Jokic. “You don’t care about minutes, fouls, shots, percentage. You just want to win a game. Some games today, sometimes we didn’t play well defensively, (but) you can win it any way you can.”
BAAAANG pic.twitter.com/s5QeX65GA8
James finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists after the best-scoring post-season half of his career, but even the leading scorer in NBA history couldn’t keep the deep, dynamic Nuggets from their sixth consecutive win.
James missed two equalizing shots in the dying seconds, with Aaron Gordon officially taking credit for blocking his equalizing effort at the buzzer.
The Nuggets cap off their stellar season by playing for their first NBA championship. Denver both eliminated the Lakers for the first time in eight playoff meetings and swept for the first time in a playoff series, likely earning several days off before the Finals.
Unless the Boston Celtics make basketball history by mending their 3-0 deficit in the East Finals, Denver will host the eighth-seeded Miami Heat on June 1 to open the NBA Finals.
“Me and AD were just talking in the locker room (and) we came to a consensus that this is one of the best teams, if not the best team, we’ve played for four years,” James said of the Nuggets.
“Just well orchestrated, well put together. They can score. They can shoot. They’ve got playmaking. They’re smart. They’ve got length. They’ve got depth. And one thing about their team, when you have a guy like Jokic, who as big as he is, as cerebral as he is, you can’t really go wrong against a guy like that.”
‘Couldn’t be prouder of this group’
The Lakers made up a seven-point deficit and tied it with five minutes left to play, but Jokic hit a 7.5-yard fallaway 3-pointer—the kind of ridiculously impressive shot for a big man that Jokic routinely makes. After Davis hit two free throws to tie the score with 1:13 left, Jokic put the Nuggets ahead again.
James then missed a strange fallaway jumper with 26 seconds left. Murray missed a turnaround to give the Lakers one last chance, but James’ drive at the buzzer was thwarted by Murray and Gordon, who scored 22 points.
“For that game to go to the end and to have the ball in LeBron James’s hands, those seconds were like an eternity,” said Denver coach Michael Malone. “When the buzzer went off, it was almost surreal for a moment. I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”
James scored 21 points in the first quarter and worked desperately to keep the Lakers competitive in the final game of his 20th NBA season. But the Lakers couldn’t even force Game 5, with a seemingly exhausted Davis scoring 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and adding 14 rebounds.
Austin Reaves scored 17 points for the Lakers, who were swept in a playoff series for the 11th time in team history, including nine best-of-seven series.
The loss ended seventh-seeded Los Angeles’ incredible turnaround after starting the season 2–10 under new coach Darvin Ham. After strengthening their roster at the trade deadline and heading into the postseason with two months of strong play, the Lakers then eliminated second-seeded Memphis and eliminated defending champion Golden State to raise their global fans’ hopes for one of the most unlikely championships in NBA history.
“Nothing but love and respect for the Denver Nuggets,” Ham said. “I like the way they play and what they’re about. We’ve also seen ways that… I think we have an opportunity to do something special here too, and we just need to build on that.”
Facing elimination for the first time in their remarkable playoff run, the Lakers took a 73–58 halftime lead. After setting his playoff career high for points in a quarter in his record 282nd post-season game, James tied his career high for points in any first half – but the Nuggets responded with a 36-16 third quarter.
