After several pre-deadline trades gave them a new lease on life, the Los Angeles Lakers are officially on life support. They lost Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals to the Denver Nuggets, 119-108, on Saturday, and it is now clear they’re seriously outmatched, as they trail the series 3-0.
Early on, the Lakers were competitive, taking a 9-7 lead. But as he was in the fourth quarter of Game 2, Jamal Murray was a flamethrower. He shot 8-of-10 in the first quarter and scored 30 first-half points, and he seemingly couldn’t miss, as Denver went up by as many as 14 points.
The Lakers chipped away and tied the score just before halftime before Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a 3-pointer to put them down by three at intermission. It looked like there was an opening for L.A. when Nikola Jokic got his fourth foul and had to sit down with 7:24 left in the third quarter, but it couldn’t capitalize, as it won the third by only one point.
A 13-0 run by Denver in the fourth quarter was the decisive juncture of the game, and the Lakers simply couldn’t recover, as they were dealt their first home loss since late March.
When Murray went strangely cold in the third quarter, Nikola Jokic heated up and finished with 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting, eight assists and six rebounds after going 2-of-8 in the first half. Off the bench, Bruce Brown was a problem with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.
No NBA team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven, and there are no signs that the Lakers can become the first to do so.