5 takeaways from the Nuggets' Game 1 victory over the Lakers

DENVER — A collective sigh of relief wafted through Ball Arena, as fans flooded the exit stairways celebrating the Nuggets’ survival of Tuesday’s 132-126 thriller over the Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

“We are up 1-0, so that beats the alternative,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “We protected our home court, and wins are hard to come by this time of the season.”

Nikola Jokic certainly eased the burden in logging his third consecutive triple-double of the playoffs — 34 points, 21 rebounds, 14 assists — and sixth of the club’s current run. In doing so, Jokic ties Magic Johnson (1982) and Draymond Green (2019) for the second-most triple-doubles in a single postseason. The Nuggets’ center now ranks as the only player in NBA history to tally multiple 30-point, 20-rebound triple-doubles (Hall of Famers such as Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar accomplished that only once).

Jokic did it through relentless aggression from the onset, pouring in 19 points with 16 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks during a first half in which Denver stacked an 18-point lead. The big man now ranks as just the second NBA player to produce 15-plus points and 15-plus rebounds in the first half of a playoff game (Tim Duncan scored 22 points with 16 rebounds against the Lakers in the 2002 West semis).

“It’s a playoff, we need to be aggressive,” Jokic said. “We need to win the game, especially in front of our home crowd because [the Lakers] won two Game 1s [on the road]. Being aggressive, it’s normal right now.”

It also proved crucial toward building a little cushion for a fourth-quarter drought during which Jokic didn’t make a single field goal, as the Lakers closed to 124-121 on an Austin Reaves 3-pointer with 3:23 left to play. Los Angeles’ lone lead of the night (2-0) came on a LeBron James drive to the bucket to start the game, but the Lakers climbed uphill the rest of the way, closing strong with 72 points over the third and fourth quarters.

Here are five quick takeaways from Tuesday’s Game 2:

1. Battle of the bigs

Jokic receives the nod here for his Game 1 performance in arguably the most compelling, and likely decisive, matchup of this entire series. Anthony Davis scored a game-high 40 points (his third career 40-point postseason showing), but the Nuggets’ big man asserted most of the force early in gobbling up 12 rebounds to the visiting team’s total of four in the opening frame, as Denver stormed to a 16-point lead on the strength of a combined 16 points from the two-time Kia MVP and Aaron Gordon. Denver outscored the visiting Lakers 18-12 in the paint in the first quarter, connecting on 50% (9-for-18) from that area, as Jokic set an early tone of physicality that the visitors wouldn’t match until late in the contest.

Keep in mind, the Nuggets entered Game 1 having taken 53% of their shots up to that point from the paint, which ranked as the highest rate for any team in the playoffs, and they connected on 57.2%. It’s also worth noting Los Angeles marched into the conference finals limiting teams to 50.9% shooting from the paint (second lowest in the NBA), and that mark fell to 47.9% with Davis on the court.

Apparently, Jokic wasn’t aware or didn’t care about the latter in the first half because the 28-year-old made it a point to aggressively attack his Lakers counterpart. Jokic smashed the gas on multiple powerful drives resulting in two dunks in the first half, even surprising Davis on a couple by taking him off the bounce.

“On his first post-up, they double-teamed,” Malone said. “They were sending an extra body at him early on. We had a great example we showed at halftime where they double-teamed him, [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope] cut to the basket and got a layup. Then, they started guarding him 1-on-1. When he felt there was 1-on-1 coverage, [he was] facing up, getting to the basket, and using that understated athleticism to finish in traffic. That was great to see.”

The diversity of Jokic’s attack in the first half left Davis guessing in trying to anticipate the Denver center’s next move, and that likely played a role in the 28-year old running up a near triple-double over the first two quarters.

That’s a win for the home team.

“I don’t think you can shut any one aspect of his game down and expect to be OK,” said Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “You just have to come in and have a great initial defender on him and the other four guys being ready to pitch in and just do their job, and again, being early to your spots, because if you have to play catch-up they’ll kill you every time.”

Despite Denver’s fast start, Malone pointed out the team’s lapses in the second half. The Nuggets outscored the visitors 30-24 in the paint in the first half and 16-8 in second-chance points over that span, while outrebounding the Lakers 36-13. The second half told a different story with the Lakers authoring leads in rebounding (17-11), points in the paint (24-20) and second-chance points (5-2).

“We were kind of imposing our will on the glass [in the first half], but that’s got to be for four quarters,” Malone said. “It just can’t be for a half.”

2. Key 2nd-half adjustment

Los Angeles threw multiple looks at Jokic throughout the first half with little success as the Nuggets center carved up the Lakers over the first two quarters, before finishing the night with 34 points on 12-for-17 shooting with 21 rebounds, 14 assists and two blocks. But Ham tossed out an adjustment late in Game 1 that Jokic and the Nuggets should count on seeing again throughout this series.

After Jokic poured in 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting with five assists in the third quarter, Ham deployed Rui Hachimura as a primary defender on the Nuggets center, while letting Davis roam the paint freely to help on Jokic drives.

“Something that we just went to, a little adjustment,” Davis said. “We did end up liking it.”

In a fourth quarter in which Los Angeles pulled to within three points, the Lakers limited Jokic to 0-for-2 from the field as Jamal Murray closed out the game. Murray scored eight points in the fourth quarter, finishing with 31 (on 12-for-20 shooting).

“They definitely had us on our heels,” Malone said. “They became the aggressor and turned the tide in this game with how aggressive they were playing. Late in the game, they put Rui on Nikola and they were just [using] Anthony Davis [like a free safety] letting him man the paint and make it look really crowded. Our execution can be better. But we made enough big plays down the stretch on both ends of the floor to win the game.”

3. Fast road start foiled

The Lakers stole victories in their first road game of the previous two playoff series, averaging 122.5 points in those outings before dropping the other four games averaging 99.5 points. Denver prevented Los Angeles from snatching Game 1 in large part due to aggressive starts from Jokic and Murray, who shot 7-for-11 in the first half (17 points), as the Nuggets build an 18-point halftime lead.

Denver won its seventh straight at Ball Arena in the playoffs, the team’s longest home win streak to start a postseason.

“We have not lost a home game in the playoffs,” Malone said. “They haven’t lost a home game in the playoffs. We told our team that they went to Memphis, went to Golden State and won Game 1 [in] both of those series and wrestled home-court advantage from both of those teams. But for us, it’s maintaining the same course that we’re on, the same mindset and going out there and doing our jobs to the best of our ability.”

4. Denver hits most of main targets

Phoenix ran roughshod over Denver in transition for a couple games in the Western Conference semifinals, and Los Angeles features one of the league’s most devastating bigs in Davis, who leads a Lakers squad that practically lived on the free-throw line in the regular season (26.6 attempts per game). So, naturally, Malone emphasized holding down the Lakers in transition, keeping them off the line, and controlling the paint in the team’s prep work heading into the conference finals.

Denver delivered on a few its objectives to start this series. The Nuggets outscored Los Angeles 19-13 in transition (17 of those points came in the first half), and pounded the Lakers 47-30 on the glass, but finished with a plus-two edge in paint scoring (50-48) while failing to keep the visitors off the free-throw line. Los Angeles averaged 29 attempts from the free-throw line in the Western Conference semifinals and finished that series with a plus-66 advantage in free throws made. The Lakers ended Game 1 with a plus-four edge in free-throw attempts (26-22) and drained 88.5%.

5. Top O vs. Top D

Something’s got to give here, and in Game 1, Denver struck first in flexing the power of its electric offense against Los Angeles’ stingy defense. The Nuggets scored 118.7 points per 100 possessions through the first two rounds of the playoffs, which ranked No. 1 in the NBA going into the West Finals. The Lakers surrendered just 106.5 points per 100 possessions over that same span, good for the NBA’s best defensive efficiency in the playoffs, as they held Memphis and Golden State to 42.2% shooting over 12 contests.

Denver’s 132 points in Game 1 registered as the most it has scored this postseason, and the club’s 106 points through the first three frames set a franchise record for the most points through three quarters. The Nuggets top three scorers in Jokic, Murray and Caldwell-Pope combined for 86 points, while the Lakers’ high-scoring trio of James, Davis and Reaves came together for 89 points. In all, Denver featured six double-figures scorers, compared to four for Los Angeles.

Game 1 marked just the 12th time in Denver franchise history that two Nuggets scored 30 points or more in the same contest.

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