Game ID: 42300154
Denver Nuggets @ Los Angeles Lakers
Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 8:30 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 28 33 30 28 119DEN 23 25 32 28 108
DEN @ LAL ScoutingDEN @ LAL Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
LAL availability going into 4/14 · 1 day's restOUT Vanderbilt missed 31 since 2/03, out tonight
OUT Wood missed 25 since 2/22, out tonight
BACK Reddish back 4/07 after 3, 12 min since (57% of 20)
NEW Hayes 12 to 18 min over the last 5
LAL availability going into 4/20 · 5 days' restOUT Reddish missed 2 since 4/12, not on tonight's roster
OUT Vanderbilt missed 32 since 2/03, out tonight
OUT Wood missed 26 since 2/22, out tonight
NEW Hayes 12 to 18 min over the last 5
LAL availability going into 4/22 · 1 day's restOUT Vanderbilt missed 33 since 2/03, out tonight
OUT Wood missed 27 since 2/22, out tonight
BACK Reddish back 4/07 after 3, 12 min since (57% of 20)
NEW Russell 33 to 38 min over the last 5
NEW Hachimura 27 to 32 min over the last 5
LAL availability going into 4/25 · 2 days' restOUT Vanderbilt missed 34 since 2/03, out tonight
OUT Wood missed 28 since 2/22, out tonight
OUT Christie missed 2 since 4/20, out tonight
NEW Russell 33 to 38 min over the last 5
NEW Hachimura 27 to 33 min over the last 5
LAL availability going into 4/27 · 1 day's restOUT Vanderbilt missed 35 since 2/03, out tonight
OUT Wood missed 29 since 2/22, out tonight
OUT Christie missed 3 since 4/20, out tonight
LAL availability going into 4/29 · 1 day's restOUT Vanderbilt missed 36 since 2/03, out tonight
OUT Wood missed 30 since 2/22, out tonight
OUT Christie missed 4 since 4/20, out tonight
DEN availability going into 4/14 · 1 day's restOUT Jordan missed 4 since 4/06, out tonight
BACK Murray back 4/06 after 7, 26 min since (80% of 33)
BACK Gordon back 4/10 after 2, 28 min since (88% of 32)
NEW Braun 20 to 27 min over the last 5
NEW Watson 18 to 24 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 4/20 · 5 days' restOUT Jordan missed 5 since 4/06, returns tonight: 9 min (80% of 11)
BACK Murray back 4/06 after 7, 26 min since (79% of 33)
BACK Gordon back 4/10 after 2, 28 min since (86% of 32)
NEW Braun 20 to 26 min over the last 5
NEW Watson 18 to 24 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 4/22 · 1 day's restBACK Gordon back 4/10 after 2, 29 min since (89% of 32)
BACK Jordan back 4/20 after 5, 9 min since (80% of 11)
DEN availability going into 4/25 · 2 days' restOUT Strawther missed 2 since 4/20, out tonight
BACK Gordon back 4/10 after 2, 31 min since (96% of 32)
BACK Jordan back 4/20 after 5, 9 min since (80% of 11)
DEN availability going into 4/27 · 1 day's restOUT Jordan missed 2 since 4/22, out tonight
OUT Strawther missed 3 since 4/20, out tonight
DEN availability going into 4/29 · 1 day's restOUT Jordan missed 3 since 4/22, out tonight
OUT Strawther missed 4 since 4/20, out tonight
DEN availability going into 5/04 · 4 days' restOUT Jordan missed 4 since 4/22, out tonight
OUT Strawther missed 5 since 4/20, out tonight
NEW Murray 33 to 40 min over the last 5
NEW Gordon 32 to 40 min over the last 5
NEW Porter Jr. 32 to 39 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 5/06 · 1 day's restOUT Jordan missed 5 since 4/22, out tonight
OUT Strawther missed 6 since 4/20, returns tonight: 4 min (33% of 11)
NEW Jokić 35 to 41 min over the last 5
NEW Murray 33 to 39 min over the last 5
NEW Gordon 32 to 40 min over the last 5
NEW Porter Jr. 32 to 40 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 5/10 · 3 days' restOUT Jordan missed 6 since 4/22, out tonight
BACK Strawther back 5/06 after 6, 4 min since (33% of 11)
NEW Murray 33 to 38 min over the last 5
NEW Gordon 32 to 39 min over the last 5
NEW Porter Jr. 32 to 40 min over the last 5
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
The Lakers come in 2-3 over their last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 111, shooting 51 percent and 33 from three, 20 free throws a game; Davis at 33 and James at 29 a game. That is 3 straight losses. They have lost the glass by 6 a night. Without Vanderbilt (35 straight), Wood (29 straight). One day's rest. Denver comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 108, shooting 48 percent and 30 from three, 16 free throws a game; Jokić at 24 and Murray at 24 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 5 a night. One day's rest.
So: The Lakers win, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-5 a night and the Lakers minus-6 and the turnovers, the Lakers giving it away 13 times a game to Denver's 10. Call it the Lakers 114, Denver 113, Denver keeping it close.
4/14 @ NOP 124-108 — LAL notes
LAL won 124-108. LAL shot 55% (48 of 87) to NOP's 48%, 11 of 29 from three. LAL turned it over 14 times to NOP's 19. Davis led with 30 (13 of 17); James added 28, Reaves 20. The hinge was Q2, 40-29: a lead of 6 became 17, and the lead reached 32. Russell was the night's best plus/minus at +24.
4/20 @ DEN 103-114 — LAL notes
LAL lost 103-114. LAL shot 49% (39 of 79) to DEN's 46%, 8 of 29 from three, and went to the line 19 times to DEN's 6 — 17 points from the stripe to their 5. LAL turned it over 12 times to DEN's 4. Davis led with 32 (12 of 23, 0 of 4 from three, 8 of 9 at the line); James added 27, Russell 13. Q1 was theirs, 33-25, but the other 3 periods went 89-70 against them. They led by as many as 12. Davis's -12 in 44 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/22 @ DEN 99-101 — LAL notes
LAL lost 99-101. LAL shot 49% (38 of 78) to DEN's 44%, 13 of 30 from three. LAL turned it over 14 times to DEN's 9. Davis led with 32 (14 of 19); James added 26, Russell 23. Q2 was theirs, 31-20, but the other 3 periods went 81-68 against them. They led by as many as 20. Dinwiddie's -9 in 10 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/25 vs DEN 105-112 — LAL notes
LAL lost 105-112. LAL shot 49% (44 of 90) to DEN's 49%, 5 of 27 from three. LAL turned it over 7 times to DEN's 13. The glass went 38-51 against them. Davis led with 33 (14 of 23, 5 of 7 at the line); James added 26, Reaves 22. Q1 was theirs, 33-23, but the other 3 periods went 89-72 against them. They led by as many as 12. Hachimura's -12 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/27 vs DEN 119-108 — LAL notes
LAL won 119-108. LAL shot 52% (48 of 92) to DEN's 45%, 8 of 26 from three, and got to the line 18 times to DEN's 25. James led with 30 (14 of 23); Davis added 25, Russell 21. The hinge was Q2, 33-25: a lead of 5 became 13, and the lead reached 19. Russell was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
4/29 @ DEN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 107, shooting 47 percent and 29 from three, 19 free throws a game; Jokić at 26 and Murray at 21 a game. It has won the glass by 7 a night. One day's rest. The Lakers come in 2-3 over their last five, scoring 110 a night and allowing 109, shooting 51 percent and 32 from three, 17 free throws a game; Davis at 30 and James at 27 a game. They have lost the glass by 5 a night. Without Vanderbilt (36 straight), Wood (30 straight). One day's rest.
So: Denver wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-7 a night and the Lakers minus-5. Call it Denver 114, the Lakers 110, the Lakers keeping it close.
4/14 @ MEM 126-111 — DEN notes
DEN won 126-111. DEN shot 52% (46 of 89) to MEM's 45%, 12 of 36 from three, and went to the line 26 times to MEM's 18 — 22 points from the stripe to their 13. The glass went 54-43 for them. Murray led with 21 (7 of 14, 3 of 7 from three); Braun added 19, Jokić 15. The hinge was Q2, 37-28: a lead of 3 became 12, and the lead reached 26. Porter Jr. was the night's best plus/minus at +27.
4/20 vs LAL 114-103 — DEN notes
DEN won 114-103. DEN shot 46% (47 of 102) to LAL's 49%, 15 of 42 from three, and got to the line 6 times to LAL's 19. DEN turned it over 4 times to LAL's 12. Jokić led with 32 (15 of 23, 1 of 3 from three); Murray added 22, Porter Jr. 19. The hinge was Q3, 32-18: DEN came in trailing by 3 and left it ahead by 11, and the lead reached 15. DEN trailed 57-60 at the half and won the second half 57-43. Gordon was the night's best plus/minus at +20.
4/22 vs LAL 101-99 — DEN notes
DEN won 101-99. DEN shot 44% (39 of 88) to LAL's 49%, 8 of 34 from three. DEN turned it over 9 times to LAL's 14. Jokić led with 27 (9 of 16, 2 of 4 from three, 7 of 7 at the line); Porter Jr. added 22, Murray 20. The hinge was Q4, 32-20: DEN came in trailing by 10 and left it ahead by 2. DEN trailed 44-59 at the half and won the second half 57-40. Watson was the night's best plus/minus at +11.
4/25 @ LAL 112-105 — DEN notes
DEN won 112-105. DEN shot 49% (44 of 90) to LAL's 49%, 5 of 28 from three. DEN turned it over 13 times to LAL's 7, and LAL turned those into 8 steals. The glass went 51-38 for them. Gordon led with 29 (12 of 18, 5 of 6 at the line); Jokić added 24, Murray 22. The hinge was Q3, 34-22: DEN came in trailing by 4 and left it ahead by 8, and the lead reached 15. DEN trailed 49-53 at the half and won the second half 63-52. Watson was the night's best plus/minus at +9.
4/27 @ LAL 108-119 — DEN notes
DEN lost 108-119. DEN shot 45% (39 of 87) to LAL's 52%, 9 of 30 from three, and went to the line 25 times to LAL's 18 — 21 points from the stripe to their 15. Jokić led with 33 (10 of 20, 2 of 5 from three, 11 of 11 at the line); Porter Jr. added 27, Murray 22. Q3 was theirs, 32-30, the deficit cut from 13 to 11, but the other 3 periods went 89-76 against them. Braun's -13 in 12 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/29 vs LAL — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 107, shooting 47 percent and 29 from three, 19 free throws a game; Jokić at 26 and Murray at 21 a game. It has won the glass by 7 a night. One day's rest. The Lakers come in 2-3 over their last five, scoring 110 a night and allowing 109, shooting 51 percent and 32 from three, 17 free throws a game; Davis at 30 and James at 27 a game. They have lost the glass by 5 a night. Without Vanderbilt (36 straight), Wood (30 straight). One day's rest.
So: Denver wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-7 a night and the Lakers minus-5. Call it Denver 114, the Lakers 110, the Lakers keeping it close.
5/04 vs MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 106, shooting 46 percent and 31 from three, 16 free throws a game; Jokić at 28 and Murray at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. 4 days' rest. Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 108, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 29 free throws a game; Edwards at 27 and Towns at 17 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 12 a night. 5 days' rest.
So: Denver wins, and the game turns on the line, where Minnesota takes 29 free throws a game to Denver's 16 and the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-12 a night and Denver plus-5. Call it Denver 111, Minnesota 109, Minnesota keeping it close.
5/06 vs MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 107, shooting 46 percent and 32 from three, 19 free throws a game; Jokić at 28 and Porter Jr. at 23 a game. One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 102, shooting 49 percent and 37 from three, 25 free throws a game; Edwards at 33 and Towns at 19 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 13 a night. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-13 a night and Denver plus-2 and the arc, Minnesota at 37 percent from three to Denver's 32. Call it Minnesota 110, Denver 108, Denver keeping it close.
5/10 @ MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 99, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 24 free throws a game; Edwards at 32 and Towns at 21 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 6 a night. 3 days' rest. Denver comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 101 a night and allowing 108, shooting 45 percent and 33 from three, 19 free throws a game; Jokić at 26 and Porter Jr. at 20 a game. 3 days' rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the defense, Minnesota allowing 99 a night to Denver's 108 and the arc, Minnesota at 38 percent from three to Denver's 33. Call it Minnesota 112, Denver 104.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAD A. Davis
AR A. Reaves
DR D. Russell
GV G. Vincent
JH J. Hayes
LJ L. James
RH R. Hachimura
SD S. Dinwiddie
TP T. Prince
DENAG A. Gordon
CB C. Braun
JH J. Holiday
JM J. Murray
JO Jokic
KC K. Caldwell-Pope
MP M. Porter Jr.
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
RJ R. Jackson
LAL/DEN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
LeBron scores 30, and the Lakers avoid 1st-round elimination with a 119-108 win over champion Denver
LOS ANGELES -- — The Los Angeles Lakers finally cracked the Denver Nuggets ' mastery of this rivalry and extended their playoff lives for at least another game.
To absolutely nobody's surprise, LeBron James led the way.
James scored 30 points, Anthony Davis added 25 points and 23 rebounds, and the Lakers avoided postseason elimination with a 119-108 victory over Denver in Game 4 of their first-round series Saturday night.
D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves scored 21 points apiece for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who snapped their 11-game losing streak against the defending NBA champions with their first win over the Nuggets since December 2022.
A series with clear patterns and rhythms finally changed in the Lakers' favor. For the fourth straight game, Los Angeles took a double-digit lead before the Nuggets rallied in the second half behind Nikola Jokic .
But for the first time in this series, the Lakers didn't wilt under the defending champions' pressure. The 39-year-old James scored 14 points in the fourth quarter on 6-of-8 shooting, again carrying the Lakers late in his 21st NBA season.
Game 5 is Monday night in Denver.
“We've given ourselves another lifeline, and it's a one-game series for us,” James said. “Monday's game is the most important game of the season for us, and we understand that.”
Denver swept Los Angeles out of the Western Conference finals last season, but the current Lakers responded to this 0-3 deficit with a performance more worthy of a team that rolled into the postseason with 12 wins in 15 games.
“We get another opportunity to go play one more game, and if we win, come back and play another one and keep moving from there,” Reaves said. “Odds aren’t stacked in our favor, but anytime we can keep ourselves floating above water and give ourselves an opportunity to do something special, we’re up for the challenge.”
Jokic had 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists for his 18th career triple-double and second in this series, but the two-time MVP and his teammates couldn't reassert their usual late-game dominance over the Lakers.
The Lakers’ 19-point lead with just over six minutes left dwindled to 113-106 on Jokic’s three-point play with 1:25 to play, but Reaves hit a short jumper before adding four free throws in the final minute.
Denver ultimately couldn't overcome yet another slow offensive start in a series full of them.
“Of course we want to (start faster), but I learned in horse racing, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Jokic said. “We didn’t finish today really well, so hopefully we can do a better job. But yes, we want to be up and control the game, but it seems like that didn’t happen to us.”
Michael Porter Jr . had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Denver, and Jamal Murray scored 22 points while going 0 for 4 on 3-point attempts. Aaron Gordon had just seven points for the Nuggets after putting up 29 in Game 3 during the highest-scoring playoff game of his career — but offense wasn't the Nuggets' problem, according to coach Michael Malone.
“The paint (defense) was a joke,” Malone said after his team allowed a whopping 72 points in the paint.
“Every huddle, I sounded like a broken record tonight," Malone added. "Every huddle was, ‘Paint, paint, paint.’ (In) Game 3, they had 70 and we found a way to win. Tonight, they had 72. That’s an incredible number. ... I just didn’t think we had the requisite physicality or urgency. This did not seem like a closeout game.”
The second-seeded Nuggets also lost a closeout game in last season’s first round while up 3-0 on Minnesota, but Denver won that series in five games and lost only three more times on the way to its first title.
While Jokic was prolific and James seized the spotlight late, Davis was outstanding for the fourth straight game. His 23 rebounds matched his career playoff high, and he even shared the Lakers' team lead with six assists.
“It’s tough to get swept,” Davis said. “Nobody wants that feeling, especially going to the summer. You’ve got to live with that feeling for the rest of the summer. So we didn’t really talk about it. We know what’s at stake. Nobody wants that feeling in your mouth for the rest of the summer. The way we played tonight is the way we have to play the rest of the series.”
The Lakers showed no quit in their dire circumstances in Game 4, pounding the ball inside for 44 points in the paint during the first half and taking their fourth halftime lead of the series.
The Lakers stretched their advantage to 15 points in the third quarter and kept building until the final minutes, when Jokic and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sparked a Nuggets rally.
“They were really pushing the pace,” Jokic said. “They had open layups. They were destroying us in the paint. We couldn’t make a shot. They couldn’t make a shot either (at times), but it seems like that affected our defense a lot. That’s a great team.”
Reggie Jackson played nine minutes for Denver despite spraining his ankle in the second half of Game 3.
Caleb Williams, the Heisman Trophy-winning former USC quarterback and the No. 1 overall pick in this weekend's NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, watched the game from courtside.