The Denver Nuggets are one win away from their second consecutive playoff series sweep over the Los Angeles Lakers after a 112-105 victory in Game 3 of their Western Conference first-round matchup on Thursday night.
Nikola Jokić told reporters after the game that “winning is a lifestyle for us” and he doesn’t want to go back to when the Nuggets were struggling early in his career.
Speaking about their success, Jokić credited the time the Nuggets players had together to build chemistry that shows up on the court every night.
The Lakers have lost seven consecutive playoff games to the Nuggets and 11 straight against them overall dating back to February 2023.
This was the third straight game in the series that the Lakers led by at least 10 points, but they have been unable to maintain that positive momentum for all four quarters.
After blowing a 20-point lead in Game 2, the Lakers led by 10 at the end of the first quarter on Thursday. The Nuggets, as they have done all series, dominated in the second half. They outscored Los Angeles 177-135 in the third and fourth quarters.
Jokić has been an unstoppable force for the reigning NBA champions. The two-time MVP finished one assist shy of his second straight triple-double but put up 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. He’s averaging 27.7 points on 63.5 percent shooting, 15.7 rebounds and 8.7 assists in the series.
Other than his game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 2, Jamal Murray has been inefficient with a 37.7 percent success rate from the field. Aaron Gordon picked up a lot of the slack on Thursday with 29 points and 15 rebounds in 41 minutes.
The Lakers’ duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis are playing well. Davis posted his third straight 30-point double-double. James has put up at least 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds in all three games.
Los Angeles’ supporting cast has been a mess. Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura have combined to shoot 15-of-48 from three-point range. Spencer Dinwiddie and Gabe Vincent are averaging a combined 4.0 points per game.
Jokić and the Nuggets certainly appear very comfortable with their winning lifestyle. They are one win away from advancing to the second round without breaking much of a sweat to get there.
Denver will look to close out the Lakers in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday at 8:30 pm ET.
