NBA
Will Anthony Davis play today against the Nuggets in Game 5 of the first round?
The Lakers are back in Colorado and looking to pull off a comeback for the ages as they face high flying Denver.
The Los Angeles Lakers ended nearly two seasons of frustration against Denver on Saturday night and managed to keep the series alive in the Western Conference and the next mission from the LA based franchise is to try and make NBA history.
The Lakers 119-108 win over the Nuggets in Game 4 on Saturday night snapped an 11-game losing streak but there is no time for resting on laurels as the series now heads bach to Colorado with Game 5 on Monday night in Denver.
“We’ve given ourselves another lifeline, and it’s a one-game series for us,” said LeBron James, who scored 14 of his team-high 30 points in the fourth quarter on Saturday night. “Monday’s game is the most important game of the season for us, and we understand that.”
James also understands that teams that fall behind 3-0 in an NBA series have literally never won the series, although four teams have forced a Game 7. The last to do it were the Boston Celtics in last year’s Eastern Conference finals, but they lost Game 7 at home to Miami.
“It takes a lot of energy to come back from these double-digit leads down 20, down 15, whatever it is,” Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. said. “(On Saturday) they did a good job of sustaining it. Whenever we got within 10 or eight, it seemed like they made a 3-pointer or made a big shot. So, credit to them.”
The Lakers controlled the paint in Game 4, with Anthony Davis leading the way with 25 points and 23 rebounds. Los Angeles scored 72 of its 119 points in the lane.
“The paint defense was a joke,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.
Key man Davis is ready
Both LeBron James and Anthony Davis took knocks during the series opener but have managed to participate in all four games to date despite LeBron carrying an ankle injury with the veteran listed as probable for Game 2.
Anthony Davis, who is on an average of 30.5 points-per-game currently was also on the ‘probable’ list for Game 2 but has been active in all games for Darvin Ham’s side to date.