Denver.- Nikola Jokic registered his sixth triple-double of these playoffs with 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists, and led the Denver Nuggets to a 132-126 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game of the finals of the Western Conference on Tuesday night.
Behind Jokic’s sizzling start and solid finish, and Jamal Murray’s 31 points, Denver beat the Lakers in Game 1 of a playoff series for the first time in history.
After a slow start, Anthony Davis had 40 points and 10 rebounds, and LeBron James finished with 26 points, 12 boards and nine assists. Austin Reaves chipped in 23 points and fueled LA’s desperate fourth-quarter run that nearly wiped out Denver’s 14-point cushion after three.
The Nuggets led by as much as 21, but the Lakers got within three points twice in the fourth quarter, once on Reaves’ 3-pointer at 124-121 and again on a pair of free throws by James that made it 129-126. with 1:12 remaining.
After Jokic made two free throws with 26 seconds remaining to give Denver a 131-126 lead, Murray pushed the ball from James as he was about to drive it to the rim and Jokic picked up the fumble before being fouled at 10.9 remaining seconds. He hit one for two and James missed for 3 as the seconds ticked by.
Game 2 is Thursday night at Ball Arena, where the top-seeded Nuggets are 7-0 in the playoffs and 41-7 overall, the best home record in the league this season.
