Anthony Davis sinks game-winner to hold off Nuggets

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

Anthony Davis delivered in the clutch after burying a buzzer-beater at the end of regulation to help the purple and gold go up 2-0 against the resilient Denver Nuggets squad.

What seemed to be a walk-in-the-park for the Los Angeles Lakers turned into a dog fight after Nikola Jokic caught fire in the last quarter to help erase a 16-point deficit heading into the crucial stretch of the game.

Lebron James operated early and dominated in the first half, scoring 20 points and bullying the Nuggets interior defense.

Things began to click for Denver in the third quarter as Jokic got his teammates involved as he read double teams well to feed open shooters and regained their offensive rhythm against the tight Lakers defense.

Already having completed numerous comebacks in their previous games in the playoffs, the Nuggets squad looked poise to complete another one after taking the lead with 20.8 seconds remaining in the game.

Jokic was a man on a mission after firing 11 straight points to eventually help them gain the lead back, 103-102.

It was a frenzied final 20 seconds: Alex Caruso missed an open three-pointer only for the ball to find Danny Green who had his shot blocked by Jamal Murray.

With 2.1 seconds left and the Lakers inbounding from the baseline, Rondo passed to a wide-open Davis for the game winner.