The Denver Nuggets are on the brink of advancing to their first NBA Finals in franchise history. After some shaky moments in which it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers were going to be able to defend homecourt in Game 3, it was the Nuggets who came up big down the stretch.
Denver took a commanding 3-0 series lead on the back of a 119-108 victory at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night. The Nuggets got out to an early lead but foul trouble for Nikola Jokic and a tale of two halves from Jamal Murray left the team in a tough spot at times.
One of the players who stepped up was former Laker Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Caldwell-Pope helped the Lakers win a championship during the Orlando Bubble in 2020 and is now doing what he can to get his second ring.
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On Saturday night, he scored 17 points against his former team, knocking down 4-of-7 3-point attempts. 12 of those points came in the second half with the Nuggets scuffling at times, as he added three rebounds and two steals to round out his stat line.
“I learn a lot about this team every time we play,” Caldwell-Pope said. “We have that dog mentality where no matter if we’re up, down, we’re going to continue to fight and play our game, and do it at a high level. We’re going to continue to do that for the rest of these games.”
The Nuggets watched a 14-point lead disappear on Saturday night, as the Lakers took a lead in the fourth quarter. However, they didn’t let go of the rope and allow Los Angeles to put the game away. Denver regrouped and responded with a run of their own, putting the game away with a 13-0 run in response.
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It was the first loss that the Lakers have suffered this postseason. It had been a while since they lost at Crypto.com Arena, with their last loss coming on March 26th against the Chicago Bulls. They had won nine in a row between the regular season, NBA Play-In Tournament and postseason before Saturday’s loss.
“This group is capable of doing great things, and they believe,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “Belief is a very powerful thing.”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
Denver is now close enough to the NBA Finals that they can taste it. While they have a commanding 3-0 lead, they cannot take their foot off the gas. While they have won all three contests thus far, one or two breaks and things could look drastically different.
Looking to avoid making history for all of the wrong reasons, the Nuggets have to remain focused and come out ready to play in Game 4 against a Lakers team that will give it their all to avoid elimination and a sweep.
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