Orlando (United States) (AFP)
The Lakers are close to returning to their first NBA Finals in ten years: they are only missing a victory after that (114-108) obtained Thursday in a hard fight against Denver, who will still have to pull off a fantastic comeback to stay alive.
Like Anthony Davis (34 pts), it is in suffering that LA has put itself in an extremely favorable position, leading 3-1 in this series where the tough Nuggets are definitely giving it a hard time .
Speaking of twist, the one caused by the Lakers winger on the left ankle froze the gold and purple blood of his entire camp in the 4th quarter, upon receiving a shoot.
Finally, Davis grit his teeth and even extinguished the opposing hopes with two free throws and a fifth rebound in the very last seconds.
"We will see tomorrow (Friday) how the ankle reacts, but I hope to play well. It was not so bad, I will be fine", wanted to reassure the interior.
He had started very strong by making his first 7 shots (10/15 in the end) to allow the Lakers to take an advantage that they did not let go, even if with each run of 7-8 points chained, Denver knew respond with another.
Their great merit, faced with this adversary never as strong as in the skin of the hunter, is to have never doubted.
- James in defense mode -
They will have to confirm this trend, in a configuration that Utah experienced in the first round and the Clippers in the semi-final, with the result that we know.
But this third victory for the Lakers is marked with the seal of determination, because they knew that a setback would have been synonymous with deep thinking.
This is why a good captain LeBron James, still very complete in flirting with the triple-double (26 pts, 9 rebounds, 8 assists), took his responsibilities in the money-time.
Both by going for free throws in penetration and especially by defending on Jamal Murray, still the number one danger of the Nuggets (32 pts, 12/20 on shots, 8 assists).
Twice, the "King" stopped the leader in his attempts near the circle, including the second at the limit of regularity without the referees, not very lively on the whole, moreover, not sanctioning.
"I'm going to have to go through the right channels, as they do, to get more free throws," Nuggets coach Michael Malone pleaded, citing the 35 that were given to the Lakers against 23 to his team.
Nevertheless, the inclination shown by LBJ, he who repeats over and over again to tap into the “Mamba mentality” of the late Kobe Bryant, was necessary for him and the Lakers to assume their status as favorites.
- Murray the tightrope walker -
Murray "is one of the strongest guys in the bubble, so I had to step in. He's pretty elusive, but I played with my left hand, my physique, while avoiding making mistakes, because the worst thing to do would have been to send him to free throws. I was lucky he missed the target twice, "he commented.
The fact remains that Murray was once again formidable, a real tightrope walker in the attack on the basket offering magnificent images of basketball, as in this action of the first period where he went to the dunk against LeBron James. , before changing his mind in mid-flight, passing underneath to run a windmill.
A gesture not to be reproduced at home on pain of guaranteed low back pain, which furiously recalled the famous change of hand, right then left by Michael Jordan in the 1991 finals, already against the Lakers.
There were other figures of speech from Murray, the embodiment of uninhibited Nuggets who never doubted their basketball offensively - they bowed having scored a shot in two (50.6%) - but on this match, despite the contribution in precious points of Jerami Grant (17 pts), he missed a great Nikola Jokic to hope for better.
The Serbian winger was not unworthy (16 pts, 7 assists), but he was still penalized by faults and appeared a little inside physically.
He will have to become strong again on Saturday, because Murray will not be able to do a miracle on his own.
© 2020 AFP