LOS Angeles Lakers moved a win closer from reaching the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals after a 114-108 triumph over Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of their Western Conference finals on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines).
Anthony Davis drilled 34 points, LeBron James flirted with a near triple-double 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Dwight Howard chipped in 13 and 12 marks respectively.
While making their NBA finals appearance for the first time since 2010 just a win away, the Lakers have to do it against the Nuggets, which reached the conference finals with a pair of 1-3 comebacks against Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers.
Davis set the tone for the Lakers with 10 early points to keep in step with the Nuggets before James and Howard connived on offense as they took a 57-47 lead midway in the second period.
Los Angeles remained on top in the third period at 82-71 on conversions by Caldwell-Pope and Rajon Rondo but Denver responded with a rally to come to within 84-87.
Holding to a 105-102 lead late in the fourth period, Rondo and James converted back-to-back hits to stretch the lead to 109-102. The Nuggets clawed to within 108-112 but two free throws by Davis sealed the win for LA.
Jamal Murray tallied 32 points, Jerami Grant continued his good shooting performance with 17 markers while Nikola Jokic battled foul trouble, and was held to just 16 markers for the Nuggets.
BOX SCORE:
LOS ANGELES 114 – Davis 34, James 26, Caldwell-Pope 13, Howard 12, Rondo 11, Kuzma 10, Green 3, Caruso 3, Morris 2, McGee 0.
DENVER 108 – Murray 32, Grant 17, Jokic 16, Porter Jr 13, Morris 12, Craig 7, Millsap 5, Harris 3, Plumlee 3, Dozier 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 37-30; Q2, 60-55; Q3, 87-84; Q4, 114-108.
The NBA holds all matches of its 2019-2020 playoffs at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States./PN
