Davis' buzzer-beating 3 lifts Lakers over Nuggets
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[September 21, 2020]
Anthony Davis' 3-pointer at the
buzzer lifted the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-103 victory over the
Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday
near Orlando.
"Special moment for a special player. Happy to be a part of it,"
LeBron James said of Davis' shot.
Davis, who scored the last 10 Laker points, delivered 22 of his 31
points in the second half for the Lakers, who hold a 2-0 series
lead. Davis also finished with nine rebounds.
"Special moment for me, special moment for the team, especially in a
situation like that trying to go up 2-0 against a special team, who
are great competitors and (fought) for the entire 48 minutes," Davis
said of the Lakers, who played the game in their Kobe
Bryant-designed "Black Mamba" jerseys. "So, to do something like in
the jerseys we wore tonight makes it even more special."
James contributed 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who blew
a 16-point third-quarter lead. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipped in
11 points, as did Danny Green.
Nikola Jokic had 30 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four
steals for the Nuggets, while Jamal Murray added 25 points and
Michael Porter Jr. scored 15 off the bench.
"We lost the game but I think we played well most of the game,"
Jokic said. "We were down (and) we came back again, so we're going
to keep our heads up until the next one."
The first of Davis' two 3-pointers came with 3:03 to play and gave
the Lakers a 100-92 lead. But Jokic scored the game's next seven
points, including a 3-pointer to slice the margin to 100-99 with
1:04 left.
After Caldwell-Pope misfired on a shot, Jokic got the rebound,
helped push the ball down the floor, then tipped a Murray miss for a
101-100 lead with 31.8 seconds left. Davis scored to give the lead
back to the Lakers with 26.7 seconds remaining.
Jokic's basket in the lane put Denver up 103-102 with 20.8 seconds
left. Alex Caruso missed a 3-point shot with 6.9 seconds left but
Green got the rebound and took another shot. That one was blocked
and the ball went out of bounds, setting the Lakers up for Davis'
game winner.
"It's not about making the shot," James said. "It's
about having the belief with just taking it for one and living with the
result."
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Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) reacts after making the game
winning basket to beat the Denver Nuggets in game two of the Western
Conference Finals of the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena.
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Denver coach Michael Malone tried to look at the positive side
despite the crushing defeat.
"We gave ourselves a chance tonight," Malone said. "Unfortunately,
Anthony Davis hit an incredible shot to kind of take that win away
from us. Defensive transition was tremendous. If we can continue
that, we'll continue to give ourselves a chance."
Game 3 is Tuesday.
In the third, the Lakers went up 70-54 after Green's 3-pointer less
than four minutes into the quarter, but the Nuggets outscored the
Lakers 24-12 the rest of the quarter to pull within 82-78 heading
into the fourth quarter.
A 10-2 run by the Nuggets allowed them to cut the Lakers' lead to
35-33 after a Porter Jr. tip-in with 8:42 left in the second
quarter. But the Lakers answered with a 20-7 surge after a 3-pointer
by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope six minutes later for a 55-40 advantage.
By the break, the Lakers owned a 60-50 edge. James had 20 points in
the first half to lead all scorers.
Both teams were sloppy taking care of the ball. The Lakers committed
23 turnovers to 19 for the Nuggets.
--Field Level Media
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