It felt like an eternity for Lakers fans to finally get a win over the Denver Nuggets and they were able to do so in Game 4, giving themselves another lifeline in their 1st Round series. A total of 499 days passed in between the last two Lakers’ wins in this match-up, so is it realistic for Laker fans to expect anything out of tonight’s game? If anything were to happen, they would once again need to get 25 points and 23 rebounds from Anthony Davis who dominated on both ends in Game 4. LeBron James had another signature performance with 30 points, but the main thing was D’Angelo Russell stepping up with 21, including 4 threes. The bench was once again a no-show, that cannot happen in Monday’s game at Ball Arena. LA heads into this one as a 7.5 point underdog.
The defending champions won’t dwell too much over that loss on Saturday. They have this series still under control and with their 2nd match point they’re in the driver’s seat on Monday. Nikola Jokic wasted a 33 point, 14 rebounds and 14 assist triple-double in Game 4, as all 5 Nuggets starters played 39+ minutes in the loss. Only 5 points were scored off the bench in that game, as good as Denver’s starting unit is, I’m afraid that number will have to go up if they want to dispose of the Lakers here. Going into Monday’s game Denver has a 7-game home win streak still active in head-to-head meetings, plus they’ve won 6 straight at Ball Arena overall dating back to the regular season.
