Lakers finally finish infamous losing streak against Nuggets

Lakers finally finish the job to end infamous losing streak against Nuggets https://t.co/wFacs52bLB

— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 28, 2024

The groans spread throughout Crypto.com Arena. It was happening again.

When Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. finished a dunk after driving past Gabe Vincent, the Nuggets were suddenly within seven points of the Los Angeles Lakers with 3 minutes, 41 seconds left in the third quarter of Game 4. The Lakers appeared on the verge of another collapse, another sweep at the hands of the Nuggets, another offseason of re-evaluating their standing in the Western Conference.

The crowd quieted and tensed up. The Lakers’ bench appeared uneasy.

Yet, on the next possession, D’Angelo Russell, having a bounce-back game after Game 3’s goose egg, drew the attention of multiple Nugget defenders and fired a no-look pass to the right corner for a Vincent 3. Three possessions later, Anthony Davis outdueled Porter and Nikola Jokić to corral an offensive rebound — one of his playoff career-high-tying 23 boards — and kicked the ball out to Taurean Prince for another 3.

Crisis averted, at least temporarily.

The Lakers went on to prevail 119-108 to snap their 11-game losing streak to Denver and take Game 4 of their first-round NBA playoff series. The victory was Los Angeles’ first over Denver since Dec. 16, 2022, nearly 500 days ago. The Lakers still trail the best-of-seven series 3-1 but have staved off major impending offseason questions about head coach Darvin Ham’s status, LeBron James’ future, what the roster will look like next season and more for at least another couple of days.

In the meantime, they have a chance to further extend their season in Monday’s Game 5.

“Well, the only opportunity for us is just to play the next game,” James said. “And we’ve given ourselves another life. We’ve given ourselves another lifeline, and it’s a one-game series for us.”

‘We know that we have to be better’: Nuggets’ flaws finally cost them against Lakers

After three games of falling apart in the second half, the Lakers’ offense maintained pace with the Nuggets in Game 4. They were only outscored 60-58 in the second half after entering Game 4 minus-42 in second halves in the series.

Through four games, the Lakers have led in 136 of the series’ 192 minutes, a 70.8 percent clip. By contrast, the Nuggets have only led for 21.8 percent of the series’ minutes with the score tied in the remaining 7.4 percent.

The fact that the Lakers have lost three of the four games despite leading for more than two-thirds of the series’ minutes is even more of an indictment on their Game 2 defeat when they blew a 20-point lead over the final 22 minutes. Had the Lakers held on and won that game, this series would be tied 2-2 with the Lakers holding more of the momentum despite the Nuggets having home-court advantage.

“I obviously wish we won (the series) 4-0,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said. “The odds aren’t stacked in our favor. But anytime we can keep ourselves floating above water, we have an opportunity to do something special. And we’re ready for the challenge.”

As much as anything, the Lakers’ victory was important for their psyche.

Whether the Lakers admit it or not, the Nuggets were in their heads to an extent. Anytime a game got close or the Nuggets went on an extended run, the Lakers would start to get tight and panic. Denver is the better team and, especially, the better crunchtime team. But the Lakers should’ve won at least a few of those 11 consecutive losses.

That the Lakers were ready for the challenge in Game 4, saving their season and finally slaying some of the narratives associated with their Denver demons, is a testament to the group’s fight and spirit.

“Beautiful day to be alive in order to stay alive,” Ham said. “That was the message yesterday and the message today. Just win one game. And we’ve got to refocus, recalibrate and have that same mindset going up to Denver.”