Tag: Denver Nuggets

Christian Wood, Jarred Vanderbilt won’t return to Lakers for Game 3

The Lakers’ frontcourt depth will remain depleted in Game 3 versus the Nuggets.

The Los Angeles Lakers are now playing for their playoff lives. Even though they won’t be facing elimination in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, it sure feels like it.

They blew double-digit leads in both of the first two games of the series, including a 20-point second-half lead in Game 2. At this point, it seems the only way the Lakers could beat the Nuggets is if both Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray break their legs and are unable to play and the Lakers run up a 50-point lead.

There was hope that Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt, two of their key frontcourt reserves, would be able to return from injury in Game 3. They have been out since February because of a knee ailment and midfoot sprain, respectively.

But the cavalry won’t be coming, at least not yet. Both remain out for Game 3 at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

Los Angeles’ bench has produced next to nothing in the first two games. Only one of its reserves — forward Taurean Prince — has scored a single point, and it is a big reason why the team is averaging just 101.0 points a game in the series after putting up 120.3 per game in the regular season after the All-Star break.

Video showed the incredible reaction to Jamal Murray’s Game 2 buzzer-beater from the Nuggets broadcast

Jamal Murray’s buzzer-beater made the Nuggets’ announcers lose their minds.

Any time an NBA team comes back from 20 points down to win on a buzzer-beater, it will understandably have everyone go absolutely wild. The Denver Nuggets’ local broadcasters were no exception to this rule after Jamal Murray hit an iconic game-winning shot to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 on Monday night.

In a new video courtesy of Altitude Sports, the camera is fixated on Nuggets’ play-by-play Chris Marlowe and color analyst Scott Hastings as they watch Murray make his move on (a later frustrated) Anthony Davis. When the ball finally swishes through the hoop, an elated Marlowe and Hastings practically have an out-of-body experience trying to describe the chaotic scene.

Judging by the sheer pandemonium at Denver’s home arena, they weren’t the only ones:

Man, that is special. It is these kinds of legendary moments that make sports worth watching. It is these kinds of legendary moments where even the announcers are utterly flabbergasted at what they just witnessed.

Featured image courtesy of Altitude Sports

LeBron James was heard arguing with a referee after Lakers’ Game 2 loss

LeBron James seemed livid right after the Lakers lost Game 2 to the Nuggets on Monday.

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered one of the most heartbreaking defeats in their history on Monday in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series versus the Denver Nuggets. They built a sizable lead in the first half and extended it to 20 in the third quarter. They seemed to be cruising to tying the series.

But they got away from what worked for them, and the contest became a slow-motion train wreck. Los Angeles gradually lost its lead, and it disappeared at the buzzer when Jamal Murray hit a jumper to hand it a 101-99 loss.

While some players, such as Anthony Davis, seemed willing to hold themselves accountable, others blamed external things. LeBron James blasted the league’s officiating process after the game and singled out a foul that was called against Michael Porter Jr. for hitting D’Angelo Russell in the face, only to be overturned.

A leaked audio (warning: strong language) also revealed that James went after one of the officials right after Murray hit the shot that buried the Lakers.

James complained that he was fouled when he made a layup late in the fourth quarter and that he should’ve been sent to the free-throw line for a chance at a three-point play.

The 39-year-old has drawn plenty of criticism for complaining frequently to the referees over the years. While it may be a valid criticism, perhaps this time he had a justified reason to be upset.

A look at how Darvin Ham’s offense failed the Lakers in Game 2

The Lakers beat themselves in their Game 2 loss to the Nuggets, especially on offense, and perhaps head coach Darvin Ham is to blame.

Since the Los Angeles Lakers started struggling in earnest in December, a large number of fans pointed the finger at head coach Darvin Ham and practically begged for him to be fired.

At the time, he was still a young head coach looking to grow into himself. He had gotten the Lakers to overcome a poor start to reach the Western Conference finals last season. This year, they won 28 of their last 42 games in the regular season, and appeared to be surging again.

But now, they’re staring at a total playoff collapse after blowing double-digit leads and losing both of the first two games of their first-round series versus the Denver Nuggets. In both games, they abandoned what had gotten them the lead, especially offensively, as time went on.

Los Angeles’ execution was abysmal late in Game 2 on Monday. Even though it ranked very high in several offensive categories after the All-Star break, many people have pointed out that Ham’s offense simply wasn’t anything special.

There were numerous instances of poor execution and incorrect reads on Monday, and the video below from YouTube user Awful Coaching breaks down just some of them.

When a team doesn’t execute its offense properly or effectively, it is the job of its coaching staff to point it out and hold its players accountable during a game. Perhaps that isn’t happening right now for the Lakers.

Although there have been reports suggesting Ham could be fired this offseason if the Lakers were to close the season out poorly, it is unknown if his job will truly be in jeopardy if they lose this series in four or five games. But he certainly seems to be making the case for his dismissal so far, far more than he did at midseason when they were struggling.

D’Angelo Russell after Game 2: ‘We still gonna win’

Despite the Lakers’ devastating Game 2 playoff loss to the Nuggets, D’Angelo Russell is still showing confidence in his team.

D’Angelo Russell finally played up to his standards in a postseason game against the Denver Nuggets, and it put the Los Angeles Lakers in position to win in Game 2 on Monday.

They took a 20-point lead in the third quarter as Russell threw in missile after missile from the outside. Many fans believed the Lakers were about to break their nine-game losing streak to the defending NBA champs.

Instead, the Lakers went away from Russell, and they also went away from Anthony Davis, who was also in volcano mode in the first half. It resulted in the roof caving in on them, and the final piece plunged to the ground in the form of Jamal Murray’s game-winning shot at the buzzer.

It was as heartbreaking a playoff loss as the Lakers have had in many years. Yet Russell expressed confidence in his team afterward.

In all, Russell scored 23 points while going 7-of-11 from 3-point range on Monday. It came after he had shot 6-of-20 in Game 1 and averaged 6.3 points on 32.3% overall shooting and 13.3% from downtown in last year’s Western Conference finals when L.A. was swept by Denver.

However, only five of Russell’s 23 points in Game 2 came in the second half, and he went 2-of-6 during that span.

NBA Twitter has jokes about Nikola Jokic’s brothers: ‘Jokic Smash Bros’

It’s not the first time Nikola Jokic’s brothers Strahinja and Nemanja have been involved in an altercation in the stands during an NBA game. Last night they took a step further when Strahinja threw a punch at a fan following the crazy Nuggets’ …

It’s not the first time Nikola Jokic‘s brothers Strahinja and Nemanja have been involved in an altercation in the stands during an NBA game. Last night they took a step further when Strahinja threw a punch at a fan following the crazy Nuggets’ comeback vs. the Lakers:

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Strahinja’s actions:

A miffed Anthony Davis had just 5 words to say about Jamal Murray’s game-winner before literally dropping the mic

Anthony Davis wasn’t happy about this.

Anthony Davis was on the wrong end of Jamal Murray’s game-winner in Game 2 of the Denver Nuggets’ first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, with the superstar guarding Murray and getting buried on the bench as the Nuggets celebrated.

So when he was asked by a reporter after the Lakers went down 2-0 in the series about what happened on that play from his perspective, he only had five words to say: “Jamal Murray made a shot.”

What’s more: he added a statement without words by tossing down the mic and leaving the room. Yikes. Here’s that moment after the loss:

NBA fans made so many jokes about Anthony Davis disappearing in Nuggets players celebrating Jamal Murray’s buzzer-beater

This doubly hurts.

This hurts.

Anthony Davis was the player guarding Jamal Murray as the clock ticked down in Game 2 of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, and the Lakers star watched as Murray nailed a stunning game-winning buzzer-beater.

Davis wasn’t happy about it after the game, but it’s the moment after the shot that we’re focused on here. You can see AD getting completely caught in the Nuggets’ celebration with Murray, and it’s rough, although a classy Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was there to make sure Davis was OK.

NBA fans made jokes, of course. Here’s a sampling from X (formerly Twitter):

A miffed Anthony Davis had just 5 words to say about Jamal Murray’s game-winner before literally dropping the mic

Anthony Davis wasn’t happy about this.

Anthony Davis was on the wrong end of Jamal Murray’s game-winner in Game 2 of the Denver Nuggets’ first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, with the superstar guarding Murray and getting buried on the bench as the Nuggets celebrated.

So when he was asked by a reporter after the Lakers went down 2-0 in the series about what happened on that play from his perspective, he only had five words to say: “Jamal Murray made a shot.”

What’s more: he added a statement without words by tossing down the mic and leaving the room. Yikes. Here’s that moment after the loss:

See Jamal Murray’s game-winning buzzer beater over the Lakers in Game 2 in 2 stunning photos

What. A. Shot.

It wasn’t Nikola Jokic who made the game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 2 of the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers series, although his 27-20-10 triple-double needs to be highlighted.

No, it was his teammate Jamal Murray who pulled up a la Kawhi Leonard near the corner and sank a shot over Anthony Davis to give Denver a 101-99 victory and a 2-0 lead over LeBron James’ squad.

There’s so much to take in from that shot, including Anthony Davis getting buried while the Nuggets celebrated right in front of him. But the photos of the game-winner are part of it.

Check out the shot on video, then the photo below and the one we posted at the top of this post. Put ’em in a museum: