The Denver Nuggets took on the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 in Los Angeles on Saturday night. The first quarter featured a lot of back-and-forth between the two teams. Neither team could really gain an edge, until late in the period when the Nuggets’ starters had largely gone to the bench. The Lakers went on a little bit of a run with LeBron James as the head of the spear, and they led the Nuggets 28-23 heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, we saw more of the same. The Lakers’ second unit was winning the battle, and they kept extending their lead a little bit at a time. It was a sloppy night overall for Denver. They couldn’t generate their usual amount of consistent offense, and the Lakers were making them pay. Nikola Jokic was about the only Nugget creating consistent scoring chances for himself and other guys on the floor. Michael Porter Jr. started to come alive near the end of the half, but it still wasn’t enough as they found themselves trailing 48-61 at the half.
In the third quarter, the Nuggets found their offense with a 32-point third quarter after scoring just 48 points in the first half. The only problem was that they couldn’t get any stops on the other end. MPJ and Jokic continued to score, but they made it just an 11-point game at the end of the period. If Denver was going to overcome their fourth deficit in four games, they were going to need the Lakers to start missing a few shots along the way.
To start the fourth quarter, the Nuggets quickly found themselves in a 15-point hole, and they had made a long climb even longer with just 10 minutes remaining. Jokic had his offense rolling in the final period, and they were gradually chipping away at the deficit. The only problem was that every time they would get close, the Lakers would get a bucket or two to fall that would extend things again. Ultimately, the sweep just wasn’t meant to be, and the Nuggets came up short by a score of 119-108.
