Nuggets Terminate Lakers’ 23-24 Season

In what would be the last to chance to keep their season alive, the Lakers found themselves down 3-1 away from home.

They would have to win in Denver, a feat they haven’t completed all season. On top of that, they would be leaning on their 39-year-old superstar to carry them to a game 6.

There were positive signs early, as the Lakers were able to capitalize on the Nuggets’ sloppy play, and took an 11-6 lead.  But Jamal Murray was able to get hot finding open spots and knocking down his threes. 

In what felt like vintage playoff basketball, the first quarter of game 5 proved how much this game meant to each team.

The Lakers were able to go on a 12-0 run with six and half minutes remaining in the second quarter, capitalizing on the Nuggets’ 9 turnovers. The Lakers were also able to get into their pick-n-roll action early.

In an even first half, the Lakers were only up three at the half, setting up a brand new ball game for the next two quarters. The Lakers were carrying a 26-16 edge in the paint, a strategy that could get the Lakers a series-saving win.

However, history in the third quarter of these recent games was not on their side. They were -8.3 in the third quarter during the series, a trend that had to be broken in this pivotal game 5.

An injury would certainly not help them overcome their third-quarter collapses. With 10:53 left, Anthony Davis went down with a scary shoulder injury from a bump by Michael Porter Jr. Although he would stay in the game, it was bothersome throughout the third quarter. 

The Nuggets would then go on a killer 14-2 run until Darvin Ham called a timeout, and Davis headed to the locker room. There was the sense once again that the game would sway in Denver’s favor.

The Lakers would end up losing the third quarter by 5, but A.D. was back in the game to start the fourth quarter. The Lakers would tie the game off a Rui Hachimura dunk with 8 and a half remaining.

It would be a shoot-out the rest of the game. With Murray and Nikola Jokic making every contested shot and LeBron James finding the cutting man forcing the ball into the paint.

After the Lakers tied the game off two clutch free throws by LeBron, non-other than Murray would end the Lakers’ 2024 season. 

Ham accredited their loss due to “Some unfortunate circumstances.” He would later add that A.D.’s injury was a huge blow to their chances late in the game stating, “(The injury) threw off his natural rotations.”

After reflecting on the season as a whole, he stated how difficult it is trying to manage injury-prone players. “All the while trying to manage a guy who’s in his 21st season, another guy in (Anthony Davis) who’s in his 12th, all of the injury history he’s been through, you can figure the rest out.” 

It’s going to be an interesting offseason for the Lakers. Will they bring back Darvin Ham, and will LeBron James opt-in to the final year of his contract? 

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