May 22, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) and head coach Michael Malone celebrate beating the Los Angeles Lakers in game four of the Western Conference Finals for the 2023 NBA playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
NBA: Playoffs-Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers
(New York, NY) — The Denver Nuggets are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
The Nuggets completed a sweep over Los Angeles, winning in Game 4 on Monday night. Center Nikola Jokić scored 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists, including the game-winning point with less than a minute remaining.
“I think that’s why playoffs are so nice and so interesting, because you don’t care about how tired you are,” Jokic said. “You don’t care about minutes, fouls, shots, percentage. You just want to win a game. Some plays today we weren’t playing good defense sometimes, (but) you can win it in every kind of possible way.”
LeBron James scored 31 points in the first half to bring the Lakers a 15-point halftime lead, but Denver fought back, outscoring LA 36-16 in the third quarter.
The Nuggets now advance to the Finals, to face either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics. The Heat holds a 3-0 series lead over the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
“It’s incredible,” Jamal Murray said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s surreal. We’re going to keep making history, that’s the thing. We’re going to keep that mindset.”
“For that game to go down to the wire and for the ball to be in LeBron James’ hands, those seconds were an eternity,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “When the buzzer went off, it was almost surreal for a second. Couldn’t be more proud of this group.”
The NBA Finals will begin on June 1st.
