The Los Angeles Lakers opened up their first round postseason series with a loss, making that nine straight at the hands of the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers had a chance to end that skid and head home with the series tied at one with a win in Game 2 on Monday night, but unfortunately they lost 101-99 on a Jamal Murray buzzer-beater.
D’Angelo Russell, who has struggled against Denver over the last couple years, hit his first three 3-pointers in this one. LeBron James was also everywhere early with a block on Murray and a three-point play to give the Lakers an early 13-7 lead.
A timeout by Michael Malone and the Nuggets didn’t seem to do much as James connected from deep and then Anthony Davis had a pair of layups to get the lead to double digits.
As always though, Denver eventually answered back with back-to-back triples from Michael Porter Jr. and Nikola Jokic. With the Lakers letting go of the rope a bit to end the first, their lead was cut to 28-24.
Russell stayed hot to begin the second quarter with his fourth and fifth triples in as many attempts. He and Davis were carrying the load offensively for L.A. and then Taurean Prince connected from deep to get the lead back to eight.
Davis was putting on a clinic in the second quarter, going right at Jokic with ease inside. After Russell made another triple to end the half, the Lakers went into the locker room with their largest lead of the game at 59-44.
Davis picked up where he left off to begin the third quarter, completing two three-point plays on the first few possessions. Austin Reaves then hit a triple to put the Lakers up 20, forcing a Nuggets timeout.
Again though, the Nuggets answered back with a quick 6-0 run, this time forcing the Lakers to take a timeout.
Unfortunately, Davis picked up his fourth foul in the third and was forced to the bench. The Denver run continued from there before Russell ended an L.A. drought with another triple. At the end of the third quarter though, the Lakers’ 20-point lead was cut to 10 at 79-69.
The Nuggets continued chipping away to begin the fourth as the Lakers struggled offensively and saw their lead cut in half again to five. It seemed to be a similar story from there with L.A. committing silly turnovers and not running any organized offense.
After the Lakers’ lead was cut to just two, James had a massive response with back-to-back triples to quiet the home crowd.
The game remaining close going into the final minutes though when Jokic started to take over, completing a three-point play to get his team within one. After a dunk by James, Porter hit another 3 and all of a sudden the game was tied in the final minute.
James had a nice answer with a drive and a layup to put the Lakers back up, but Murray then buried one from midrange to tie it again. After a James missed, the Nuggets had a chance to win it at the buzzer and low and behold, Murray hit another shot at the buzzer to win it.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers now return home where they will host the Nuggets in Games 3 and 4 on Thursday and Saturday night, respectively.
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