The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 132-126 in game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
For his third consecutive triple-double, Nikola Jokic recorded 34 points, 21 rebounds, and 14 assists, while teammate Jamal Murray scored 31 points. Other Nugget scorers included Kennavious Caldwell-Pope with 21, Bruce Brown with 16, Michael Porter Jr. with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Aaron Gordon with 12 as the Nuggets sailed for the win.
For the Lakers, Anthony Davis had a team-high 40 points and 10 rebounds. LeBron James finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists; Austin Reaves scored 23 points; and Rui Hachimura scored 17 points in the loss.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said they will correct their wrongdoing. “We’ll go back and look at the film and see what we need to clean up,””Take a good look at that second half, see what went well, and try to sustain the good stuff and alleviate and repair the bad stuff.” He said.
Game 2 will be played in the same venue in Denver on Thursday.
