By: Jenfrin Rodriguez
Sports Editor
LOS ANGELES,C.A., -- While the Los Angeles Lakers managed to come away with a 114-108 win against the Denver Nuggets to take 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals, the job is not finished. Despite needing only one more win, the Nuggets have been in this situation before. Both the quarter-final opponent being the Utah Jazz and the semi-final opponent the Los Angeles Clippers found themselves up 3-1 needing one more win to advance.
Elimination games have been the kind of pressure Denver has needed to play at the level they have been led by their two stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. The sheer fact of not having high expectations and being the underdogs in every series they played has made them that much more formidable. Jamal Murray has been the answer so far this postseason where he has amassed over 40 points multiple times when needed most. However, none of that is to take away from Nikola who himself has been just as good for the team.
With all that being said, The Los Angeles Lakers are not those teams. The other teams did not have Lebron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers were the favorite to win the championship since they made the blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis on June 15th, 2019. Lebron is still the king and it would be unwise to bet against him with how he turns his game up come postseason.
The Nuggets are going to have to play more like how they were in the rounds prior if they want to have a chance. Positive takeaways the Nuggets can say is how at times they managed to dominate the boards, and have the Lakers go as much as 9 minute stretches without being able to score. However, Denver has had droughts where they are prone to turning the ball over. That is simply not going to bode well against a team that likes to run in transition.
The next game between both teams is Saturday at 9 p.m eastern on TNT network. The Lakers look to stop any momentum before it gets out of hand, while the Nuggets are looking to begin yet another comeback in what has truly been a story out of a book.
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