Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. We are in the conference finals!
Anthony Davis makes this shot at the buzzer to win it in Game 2.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Mark J. Terrill/AP.)
Good grief. What a finish. And honestly, it felt like it should’ve never come down to that.
Early in the game, the Lakers were playing physical against the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic looked flustered going against JaVale McGee, Anthony Davis, and especially Dwight Howard. LeBron James scored 20 first half points and Alex Caruso dazzled with some plays. The Lakers led by double digits and it looked like we were once again on the way to an easy Los Angeles victory.
The Lakers even went up by 16 early in the third. But L.A. got so careless with the ball, giving an opening for a Nuggets rally. Denver was able to cut it down to a 4-point deficit.
The Nuggets inserted seldomly-used P.J. Dozier into the game and he gave them a boost with his frantic energy. A Jamal Murray lay-up gave Denver a quick lead (it was immediately countered with a Danny Green 3). The Lakers would somehow make three-pointers with the shot clock running down, including Davis (who was pretty much the Laker offense in the second half), whose three made it a 100-92 Laker lead.
Then Jokic was just working it at the offensive end. He made a fadeaway, two foul shots, a three, and an unbelievable tip-in to score 9 straight points and give Denver the lead. Davis followed with a short jumper to give the lead back to the Lakers. Then Joker countered with a baby hook to give the Nuggets a 103-102 lead. Somehow, Denver might be able to steal a win.
The Lakers got Caruso open for 3 with 7 seconds left but he missed. Danny Green got the offensive board but his shot was blocked by Jamal Murray. The Lakers kept the ball with 2.1 seconds left.
And then what followed was this:
Watch This Play
Davis got a WIDE OPEN THREE.
AD WINS IT AT THE BUZZER 🚨 pic.twitter.com/pcAe63xESj
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) September 21, 2020
The shot was a swish. He even said Kobe after the shot. What would’ve been a tied series became a crucial 2-0 series lead for the Lakers.
Mason Plumlee made a huge error defensively. He went straight to LeBron thinking that Jerami Grant was going to switch. The problem was that he should’ve followed Davis the entire way instead of calling for an EARLY switch. Instead, Davis got complete separation and Jokic’s help, who was guarding the inbounds pass, was way too late. You cannot leave your man in a situation like this.
What a big man battle it was at the end, though. Jokic scored the last 12 Nuggets points. Davis scored the last 10 Lakers points. In the end, it was a Lakers win. They’re up, 2-0, and that’s what really counts.
Bullet Passes
It’s funny that Charles Barkley compared Davis to Derrick Coleman in terms of aggressiveness. The difference here is that Davis can, sometimes, pull back because of his unselfishness. Coleman just didn’t care as much during his playing days.
Anyway, the “not-so-aggressive” Davis scored 31 points and 10 boards. After a 37-10 performance in Game 1. He definitely saved his best for last.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Vanessa Williams’ VEVO.)
It was a bit baffling that Frank Vogel didn’t use Dwight Howard much in the second half. Howard was making Jokic’s life a living hell in the first half. Jokic would end up with 30-6-9 along with four steals.
The West is going to catch up to the East as they run Game 3 on Tuesday. The ECF has already done three games; they’ll do Game 4 on Wednesday.
NBA Playoff Scoreboard
Game 2: #1 LAL 105 vs #3 DEN 103 (LAL leads series, 2-0)
See y’all for Game 3. And hope everyone in the bubble stays safe.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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