LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers can’t stop being tricked by the Joker and his henchmen.
After the Lakers jumped out to a 20-point lead with 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Jamal Murray capped the Nuggets’ comeback by sinking a fadeaway jump shot at the buzzer to seal a 101-99 victory and give Denver a 2-0 series lead.
British rapper Skepta puts it best for Lakers fans when he raps, “but it’s like watching the film and you already know the ending,” in his song “Same Old Story.” The team suffers from all the same issues that head coach Darvin Ham has failed to fix.
Sure, the Lakers had intensity from the tip off and they looked like a completely re-energized team compared to Game 1. Plus, D’Angelo Russell’s return to form as a three-point shooter made a huge difference. Eighteen of his 23 points came in the first half, with all of those first-half points coming from his six threes.
In the first half, Anthony Davis cooked Nikola Jokic inside on offense and shut him down on defense. Davis was the leading scorer for both teams in the first half, dropping 24 on an outstanding 92% from the field, while Jokic was held to just 12 points in the opening 24 minutes, only making one shot from inside the arc.
The Lakers also had the requisite defensive intensity in the first half, applying pressure on almost Nuggets’ every shot and not allowing them to find a rhythm. One of the fruits of the Lakers’ first half defense was Jamal Murray’s atrocious shooting performance. He had four points in the opening quarters while shooting 20% from the field.
However, it’s the NBA Playoffs; We know that Jokic and Murray thrive in late game situations and the duo stepped up once again. Murray and Jokic combined for 31 points in the second half, with both of them shooting a rock-solid 50%.
Despite his lackluster start, Jokic finished with a historic performance, a triple-double consisting of 27 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals. It’s the fourth time Jokic has dropped a 20/20/10 triple-double in the playoffs, which tied Wilt Chamberlain for the most in NBA playoff history.
And the Lakers made the same mistake they’ve been making all season long in the second half, especially the 3rd quarter: They took their foot off the gas when they needed to keep it on the pedal.
When Davis had to be subbed out for a rest, Ham went with the same small ball lineup he played in Game 1 that consisted of Russell, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Austin Reaves.
That lineup should have considerable offensive firepower, but they obviously don’t have the size to guard the Nuggets. This lineup is out there against Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon—three players with size who have the fluidity and shooting to absolutely punish a smaller lineup.
As such, the Lakers’ defense kept faltering without a natural center, as James and Hachimura allowed Jokic to score with relative ease. Ham’s lineup during the 3rd quarter is also perplexing when a seven-foot Jaxson Hayes stays on the bench, playing only six minutes.
In the post game press conferences, Ham and James blamed the refs for how the game ended when really they should blame themselves. Ham needs to figure out when to rest Davis and how his team should guard Jokic when Davis is out. Even though James had a fantastic fourth quarter with 12 points, he missed a wide open three-pointer that would’ve given the Lakers the lead with 16 seconds left.
A reasonable basketball fan could argue that even though the Lakers had a 20-point third quarter lead, the Nuggets are simply the better team and deservedly won the game despite the Lakers’ best efforts. But as Ham’s unimpressive defensive schemes show, the Lakers choked away a sizable lead when they should’ve returned to Los Angeles with the series tied 1-1.
The Lakers’ only saving grace is that their stagnant bench could potentially be revived with forward Christian Wood returning from injury and forward Jarred Vanderbilt targeting a return for Game 3. The potential addition of Vanderbilt in particular would help the Lakers in their desperate quest to slow Jokic down.
The Lakers will try to break the Nuggets’ 10 game winning streak against them on Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m., back home in LA.