In Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series at Ball Arena on Saturday night, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 114-103, led by 32 points from Nikola Jokic.

The Lakers had a 12-point advantage in the first half of the game, but were outscored by 14 points in the third quarter and trailed by 15 points going into the fourth quarter.

After finishing with 27 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds, LeBron James commented, “They made shots and we were not very good offensively,” regarding the third quarter. “We failed to make contact on our shots. They performed admirably.”

In the defeat, Anthony Davis finished with 32 points and 14 rebounds. James finished the second half with just six points.

Following the defeat, Davis remarked, “We have to watch the film and see what worked and what didn’t on both ends of the floor.” “We had too many turnovers and poor shooting to start the third quarter.”
Rebounding the ball and making a lot of three-pointers was one of the Lakers’ weak points on Saturday night. In addition to being outrebounded 53–45, Los Angeles also trailed 15–6 on the оffensive glass. The Nuggets scored 18 second-chance points as a result of their disparity.

The Lakers had a dismal three-point shooting performance, going 8 of 29 (27.6 percent) for the game.

“Our three-point percentage was 27%. “We need to stay up with them,” said D’Angelo Russell, the point guard for the Lakers. “Shooting a low percentage from three and оffensive rebounds was the difference tonight.”

This season, Los Angeles has been a club that excels in the paint; usually, they win the game when they prevail in that bаttle. However, Jokic, the two-time MVP and this season’s apparent winner, is a paintball player by trade. In that area, Denver defeated the Lakers 64–54 in Game 1.

Since sweeping the Lakers in four games during that season’s Finals series, the Nuggets have now won five straight postseason games against them. Overall, they have won nine straight.

For the reigning champions, Jamal Murray scored 22 points and dished out 10 assists.

Murray locked down Lakers shooter D’Angelo Russell on defense, just like he did the previous season. Russell established the Lakers’ single-season record for three-pointers made this year, but in Game 1, he only finished with 13 points after going 1-for-9 from outside the arc.

About his terrible shooting in Game 1, Russell remarked, “Sometimes the ball just don’t fall.” “I had to focus on every small detail and detail in order to stay on the floor, but when I looked up, my shots weren’t dropping.I’ll be prepared for the following one.

Russell made his first and only three-pointer of the game early in the fourth quarter on Saturday after missing his first six attempts. After a poor showing in the first three games of the Western Conference Finals series the previous year, Russell was benched from the starting lineup.

Los Angeles’ Taurean Prince led the team with 11 points off the bench, but the Lakers were outscored 17-11 in bench points as Gabe Vincent, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Jaxon Hayes were all held scoreless.