Coming off of their confident 4-2 series win against the Phoenix Suns during the Western Conference Semifinals, the Denver Nuggets have now successfully advanced and continue to dominate the majority of the 2022-’23 NBA postseason. Hosting the first game of the Western Conference Finals at the Ball Arena in the heart of Denver, Colorado, star center Nikola Jokić managed to lead his squad to yet another postseason victory against their newly matched opponents; the Los Angeles Lakers.
Maintaining a solid lead throughout the entirety of the game, Denver concluded the fourth quarter with an assertive 132-126 win this past Tuesday night, May 16. Putting up the best individual performance of the night for his franchise and arguably one of the best personal performances of his whole season, Jokić ended the night with a well-deserved triple-double consisting of 34 points, 21 rebounds, and 14 assists over the course of hard-earned 42 minutes on the floor. As most NBA fans would agree, this specific game was won by Denver putting a majority of their efforts towards the defensive end of the court by obtaining a total of 47 rebounds, in comparison to Los Angeles’ 30 rebounds.
However, despite their loss, now is not the time to count out LeBron James and the Lakers. Only trailing by one game, it would not be difficult for Los Angeles to easily come back at any given moment, especially considering the next three out of five games will take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Scoring a strategic 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists, LeBron simply seemed stumped in being able to gain leverage against his highly persistent opponents: Lakers athletes Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis also transparently left it all on the court by combining for a hard-fought total of 63 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. As this year’s Western Conference Finals continues, the Denver Nuggets (1-0) and Los Angeles Lakers (0-1) both turn their attention to Game 2 this upcoming Thursday, May 18, in Denver, Colorado.