LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Nikola Jokic outdueled LeBron James as the Denver Nuggets completed a 4-0 Western Conference championship sweep over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic bagged a 30-point triple double as the Nuggets overturned a 15-point half-time deficit to send James and the Lakers crashing out of the postseason with a 113-111 victory at the Crypto.com Arena.
James had looked to be single-handedly keeping the Lakers’ season alive after scoring 31 points in a magnificent first-half display that left the 17-time NBA champions leading 73-58 at half-time.
But Jokic led a resurgent Nuggets offense in the third quarter, scoring 13 points as the Western Conference top seeds outscored the Lakers 36-16 to turn the contest on its head.
A dramatic fourth-quarter finale saw Jokic put Denver 113-111 ahead with a typically barnstorming driving layup through heavy traffic with 51.7sec remaining.
With four seconds left James had one last chance to tie it up and force overtime, but his attempted driving floater was blocked by Denver’s Aaron Gordon to leave the Nuggets celebrating a famous win.
Denver, one of 11 teams in the league who have never won the NBA championship, will face either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics in the finals.
Miami leads Boston 3-0 and can clinch their place in the finals with a victory at home on Tuesday.
Jokic finished with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists while Jamal Murray added 25 points. All of Denver’s starters finished with double-digit points tallies, reflecting the team’s depth and balance.
The Nuggets will head into the finals brimming with confidence that they can end their near-half-century wait for a maiden NBA crown after another composed all-round performance proved too much for the Lakers.
Lakers star James later described Denver as the best team he has faced since joining Los Angeles five years ago.
“They have scoring. They have shooting. They have play-making. They have smarts. They have length. They have depth,” James said.
“And one thing about their team, when you have a guy like Jokic, who as big as he is but also as cerebral as he is, you can’t really make many mistakes versus a guy like that.”
The 38-year-old James finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Lakers in a heroic attempt to keep the series alive.
