In what has been an incredible playoff duel with LeBron James, Nikola Jokic has yet again turned in another triple-double to help the Denver Nuggets complete their first playoff sweep in franchise history with a 113-111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena. Jokic was named the Magic Johnson Western Conference finals MVP.
Despite James’ incredible performance of scoring the most points in a playoff half in his career, Jokic’s performance was enough to help the Nuggets reach their first-ever NBA Finals. James scored 31 points in the first half before finishing with 40 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. At 38, James became the oldest player in NBA history to score 40 points in a playoff game.
Murray denied James’ final drive to the basket in an attempt to force overtime when he got a hand on the basketball before James was able to get a shot off, which was blocked by Aaron Gordon with 1.4 seconds left. Murray celebrated with a scream, and the Denver bench mobbed him when time expired as James could only watch.
Denver has focused on getting four more wins considering how Murray and Jokic have been playing as perhaps the most formidable duo in the league. The Nuggets are optimistic about winning an NBA championship. Jokic collected his NBA playoff-record eighth triple-double of the postseason with 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists in 45 minutes. Five of his points came in the final 2:50 on perhaps the two biggest baskets of the game.
Jokic averaged a triple-double in the second round to eliminate Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Phoenix Suns. He also averaged a triple-double to sweep James, Anthony Davis, and the Lakers. Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, “I think he’s showing other people nationally that he’s real, like what he’s doing is real. The [two] MVPs are real. The triple-doubles are real. The silly narratives [against him for MVP] this year are just silly and somewhat ignorant. I think Nikola has gone through three rounds now where he’s averaging a triple-double in the playoffs. Have you seen any stat padding out there? I’m serious, enough of the silliness. The guy is a great player; give him his damn respect. Stop chopping him down at the knees. He’s a great player and give him the respect he deserves.”
The Lakers treated this game like there was no tomorrow. They elected to bring D’Angelo Russell off the bench for the first time in the playoffs. The rest of the starting lineup each had eight or more points by halftime to help the Lakers take a 73-58 lead into the intermission. However, the Lakers’ lead was gone by the 4:39 mark of the third quarter when Jokic hit Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a layup with a foul, giving Jokic his 10th assist of the game and his sixth triple-double in his past eight games. The Nuggets went on a 34-14 run to take a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.
With both teams playing a tightly contested fourth quarter, Jokic picked up his fourth and fifth personal on the offensive end with 5:19 remaining. But the Nuggets kept him in the game. After James scored to reach 40 points, Jokic answered with a fadeaway 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer with 2:50 to play. With the game tied at 111, Jokic snapped the tie with a driving layup with 51 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, James missed a fadeaway 3, but Murray could not seal the game as he missed a shot inside the paint. With 4.0 seconds left, the Lakers called timeout, but the Nuggets’ defense denied James’ drive, setting off their Western Conference championship celebration.
Jokic was asked afterward how winning the Western Conference finals MVP compares to his two regular-season MVP trophies. He brought up this year’s MVP and said Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid is deserving no matter what people might think now with how Jokic has dominated this postseason. “To be honest, I don’t think about MVPs anymore,” Jokic said. “I think people are just mean and saying that Embiid shouldn’t have won it. I think he should have won it. I think he was playing, if you watch it, extremely, extremely tough basketball through the whole season. … He was really amazing in 82 games or however many games he played.” But Jokic is the MVP big man who is now heading to his first NBA Finals.
The Nuggets have been waiting for the NBA Finals for a long time, taking Denver 46 seasons to reach this point, the most seasons before a Finals appearance in NBA history. Denver had 93 playoff wins entering Monday night, the most all-time without a Finals berth. Jokic and Murray’s chemistry is at an all-time high, and they talk that language on the court, playing beautiful basketball.
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