The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 113-111 to advance to the NBA Finals Series for the first time in franchise history on Monday.
The Nuggets were outscored 55-38 in the second half to topple the Lakers, who had started the game well thanks mainly to the brilliance of LeBron James.
The endless streak of 46 years of existence without an appearance in the finals, which represents a record of mediocrity, is therefore finally over for the Denver club.
It is also the third-highest combined in the MLB, NHL and Silver Tour.
Once again dominating the floor, the “MVP” of the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons Nikola Jokic scored an eighth hat trick in the current series, thanks to a harvest of 28 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists.
He broke the mark of 56-year-old Wilt Chamberlain, who had seven hat tricks in the 1967 playoffs.
James, trying to keep alive his slim hopes of reaching the Finals for the 9th time in his career, tried everything in this fourth game, collecting 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
“We knew the last shot was going to come to him,” Jokic said in a postgame interview. He hurt us a lot in the first half [NDLR : il y a inscrit 30 de ses 40 points de la soirée], but we forced him to take more contested shots in the second. That’s what you need to do on the spot for one of the all-time greats. »
For the NBA title, the Nuggets will now wait to find out which of the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics will win the Eastern Finals.
Surprisingly, the Heat have dominated the game thus far and will have an opportunity to emulate Denver on Tuesday night in front of their fans in Game 4.
Canadian Jamal Murray, meanwhile, delivered 25 points and five assists to finish off the Lakers, who fell in the previous round to the defending champions Golden State Warriors.
In addition to shining offensively, Murray made the defensive play that confirmed his club’s sweep, preventing “King James” from shooting under the basket in the game’s final second.
