LOS ANGELES — The Denver Nuggets are one victory away from appearing in the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
The Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 119-108 in Game 3 Saturday to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
They can close out the series in Game 4 Monday in Los Angeles (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Since moving to the NBA from the ABA in 1976, the Nuggets reached the conference finals four previous times but lost to Seattle in 1978 and the Lakers in 1985, 2009 and 2020.
Los Angeles took an 85-84 lead with 11:00 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Nuggets pulled away with solid offense and defense.
Jamal Murray resumed Game 3 where he finished Game 2 — scoring points. Murray scored 17 points in the first quarter after scoring 23 in the fourth Thursday and finished with a game-high 37 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
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He has 74 points in the past two games. As the Lakers tightened their defense on two-time Nuggets MVP center Nikola Jokic, Murray has found room to operate offensively.
Denver dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lakers 35-26, and received timely made shots from Jokic, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown and Michael Porter Jr.
Jokic played with foul trouble and didn’t generate another triple-double like he did in the first two games of the series but he had 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds, including 15 points in the fourth quarter.
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Porter had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, Caldwell-Pope had 17 points and Brown added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench.
The Lakers’ season is on the line, knowing that no team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. Just three teams have forced a Game 7 after losing the first three games, and the Portland Trail Blazers in 2003 against Dallas were the last team to do it.
Anthony Davis led Los Angeles with 28 points and 18 rebounds, and LeBron James had 23 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. The Lakers shot just 45.2% from the field and 31.3% on 3-pointers.
