Live updates, tweets, photos, analysis and more from the Denver Nuggets’ Game 3 matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on May 20, 2023.
Game 3 headlines
Game Story: Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic push Nuggets to brink of NBA Finals, take commanding 3-0 lead over Lakers
Nuggets 3-pointers: Nikola Jokic’s fourth quarter of Game 3 proves he can survive any slog or slump
Kiszla: At doorstep of their first NBA Finals, Nuggets ready to kick it down and make history
Live updates
FINAL: Nuggets 119, Lakers 108: It’s gonna happen, people. The Nuggets are up 3-0 in the Western Conference Finals, and it’s hard to believe they are going to be the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 lead in the conference finals. Denver is just better. And that’s clear after three games. — Matt Schubert
Strong answer (8:56 p.m.): LeBron James hits a 3-pointer on one end, Nikola Jokic answers on the other. This one is just about done. The Nuggets are about to move one win from the NBA Finals. It’s 114-103, Denver with less than two minutes to go. — Matt Schubert
So close to 3-0 (8:50 p.m.): A Brown Brown tip-in on an air ball from Jamal Murray and a Nikola Jokic bucket in the post finish off a Nuggets 13-0 run for a 12-point lead. It’s now 106-98 with 3:48 to go, and Denver’s defense is digging in. Another gutty effort from the Nuggets. — Matt Schubert
(8:45 p.m.): Jamal Murray’s first bucket of the second half. Lakers down eight. — Mike Singer
Nuggets holding on (8:41 p.m.): Prediction: You will be hearing A TON about the refs after this one. The free-throw disparity (27-11 in favor of the Lakers) all but demands it. Although, I’m sure the Nuggets will happily trade those foul shots if they keep hitting 3s. First Jeff Green in one corner. Then Bruce Brown in the other. Nuggets lead 99-94 with 7:00 to go. — Matt Schubert
(8:40 p.m.): Really, really unselfish play from MPJ to Bruce there. Bruce bangs a 3-pointer and has something fun to say to Lakers’ bench. 99-94 Denver … 7:00 left. — Mike Singer
(8:34 p.m.): Nikola Jokic was on a 7-for-27 shooting stretch before scoring that go-ahead bucket. — Bennett Durando
Third-quarter update
Bennett Durando, sports reporter: I’m trying to compute how the Nuggets got out of that third quarter alive. Jamal Murray went suddenly silent, Nikola Jokic scored two points then sat most of the quarter with four fouls, and LeBron James made his first two 3-pointers of the series. Yet Denver’s lead going into the fourth is only one point fewer than it was at halftime. Buckle up and hope Jokic or Murray finds their scoring touch again in the last 12 minutes of this one.
KCP carrying the Nuggets (8:28 p.m.): All things considered, it could’ve been a lot worse at the end of the third quarter for the Nuggets. Thanks to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Nuggets will take a two-point lead into the fourth quarter. I’m guessing Michael Malone will take that. — Matt Schubert
(8:27 p.m.): Heading to the 4th: Nuggets 84, Lakers 82. — Jeff Bailey
Fans finally alive (8:18 p.m.): The Nuggets need to channel that two-quarter stretch when Nikola Jokic didn’t score but they held a 20-point advantage over the Lakers anyway, because Jokic has four fouls with lots of time left in the third quarter. L.A. rallied to tie it at 71. — Bennett Durando
(8:08 p.m.): That is four fouls on the Joker. — Jeff Bailey
(8:04 p.m.): Timeout Denver, Nikola Jokic can’t seem to get things going offensively tonight. Denver needs to hit the boards a little harder if they want to take Game 3 in LA. — Jeff Bailey
Halftime analysis
Mark Kiszla, sports columnist: We got us a ballgame. If winning the first championship in franchise history was as easy as the Nuggets made it look before their big early lead collapsed, they would’ve done it long ago
Mike Singer, Nuggets beat reporter: Nuggets up 58-55 at halftime. Took a herculean first-half from Murray (30 points) to keep Denver ahead. Next highest scorer is AG with seven. Joker’s got just five. Denver’s probably going to need someone else. Probably.
Bennett Durando, sports reporter: Don’t get ahead of yourself just yet. The Lakers weathered the Jamal Murray storm thanks to Austin Reaves’ 15-point half, and Nikola Jokic picked up his third foul 33 seconds before the break. Denver doesn’t have a lot of size to back him up, so this could get a bit precarious depending on how Michael Malone juggles the risk factor early in the second half. Jokic isn’t having a banner night anyway, shooting 2 for 8 for five points.
(7:39): Nikola Jokic picks up his third foul late in the first half. — Mike Singer
(7:30 p.m.): Eddie Murphy is here, sitting courtside for Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. Denzel Washington is here. Jack Nicholson is here. So many stars. And Nuggets guard Jamal is outshining ’em all. 26 points with 5:27 remaining in 2Q. — Mark Kiszla
(7:27 p.m.): Jamal Murray is flexing/barking/screaming after each 3-pointer. Already with four triples and 26 points in 15 minutes. Seizing the stage. Arena is quiet. — Mike Singer
(7:20 p.m.): Why on earth did the Lakers just sag off Jamal Murray on the perimeter? — Bennett Durando
Trouble brewing for LA (7:14 p.m.): Anthony Davis just picked up his second foul barely a minute into the second quarter. Right after Jeff Green drove on him for a layup. Lakers are leaving Davis in. They don’t have much of a choice. Jamal Murray getting a well-earned rest, Jokic in. — Bennett Durando
First-quarter update
Mark Kiszla, sports columnist: When did Jamal Murray morph into Michael Jordan? And: How did the Lakers make the playoffs.
(7:11 p.m.): It’s surprisingly quiet at Crypto for Game 3 of the West Finals. Crowd got into a couple times when LeBron hit two jumpers, but other than that, Nuggets have succeeded in snatching the wind out of this place. It’s 32-20 after one, and Joker hasn’t even scored yet. — Mike Singer
(7:09 p.m.): This series might be done. — Matt Schubert
When is it safe to start mentioning brooms? (7:08 p.m.): A fan in the nosebleeds just shouted into the void, “Bruce Brown, you’re bald!” Nothing the Lakers try seems to work, so that’s worth a shot. Jamal Murray has 40 points in the last two quarters, and the result is a 32-20 Nuggets lead after the first quarter … without a point from Nikola Jokic. — Bennett Durando
(7:02 p.m.): At this rate, the Nuggets and Heat are both going to have a 10-day layoff before the start of the NBA Finals. Maybe Joker will have time for a trip home to Serbia. — Mark Kiszla
(6:58 p.m.): How did the Lakers make the playoffs? — Mark Kiszla
Every Other Davis update (6:52 p.m.): Jamal Murray has picked up where he left off in Game 2, starting with 11 points on perfect 5 for 5 shooting in the first six minutes. But I hope the Nuggets enjoyed AD’s game off — Anthony Davis has 6 early points, a pair of rebounds and a block on Nikola Jokic, who has not scored. Denver in front 15-9. — Bennett Durando
(6:50 p.m.): Nuggets 15-9 with 6:08 in 1Q. Jamal Murray can’t miss. But more important: Both teams acting like they know Nuggets are better at basketball. — Mark Kiszla
(6:48 p.m.): Murray has picked up where he left off in Game 2. — Jeff Bailey
Game predictions
Mike Singer, Nuggets beat reporter: With their backs against the walls and their season on the brink, the Lakers ride a charged crowd (and an energized LeBron James) to their first win of the series. But the Nuggets keep it close until the end. Lakers 114, Nuggets 111
Mark Kiszla, sports columnist: Lakers know Nuggets are the better basketball team. But I don’t believe LeBron James, if he can jump off his twisted ankle, will let LA go down without a fight. Lakers 114, Nuggets 109.
Matt Schubert, deputy sports editor: Do I dare pick the Lakers for the second straight game? They’ve gotta win one of these things, right? Right?!?! Pick: Lakers 113, Nuggets 108.
Bennett Durando, sports reporter: Feels like this series is destined for another down-to-the-wire game in a new location. I’m curious about the Nuggets’ crunch time lineups after Bruce Brown and MPJ played the fourth quarter of Game 2, but not Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Denver held serve in the mountains; Los Angeles will do the same tonight with better choices on offense down the stretch. Pick: Lakers 111, Nuggets 109
Nuggets-Lakers Game 3: Must reads
Put down the remote, Michael Malone.
Trust us, there are far better ways to spend your free time than lingering on what a few talking heads on ESPN and FS1 have to say about your Nuggets. Just because someone saw fit to give Kendrick Perkins and Nick Wright microphones doesn’t mean you have to listen. Read more…
Nuggets vs. Lakers: Three keys to Game 3 victory in Western Conference Finals
It’s time for the Western Conference Finals to move from the mountains to the beaches.
No more altitude excuses for the Lakers after Denver took a 2-0 series lead at Ball Arena this week. Game 3 is in the City of Angels on Saturday (6:30 p.m. MT, ABC). Here are three keys to Game 3: Read more…
LOS ANGELES – The plodding traffic cone, otherwise known as Nikola Jokic’s defense, was conspicuously absent in Thursday’s Game 2 win over the Lakers.
In fact, Jokic, who helped limit Lakers superstar Anthony Davis to just 4-for-15 shooting from the field after he scored 40 points in Game 1, was at the heart of Denver’s defensive effort with his swarming pick-and-roll effort and vacuum-style rebounding. Even if Davis overwhelmed in Game 1, limiting him every other game is a formula the Nuggets would gladly invite.
As part of his fourth consecutive triple-double, Jokic snatched 17 rebounds and swiped three more steals in the win. Since narratives have overwhelmed the airspace ever since the Nuggets took a 2-0 lead in this Western Conference Finals, here’s one more to chew on: Jokic has more than held up defensively.
Whatever you think of his admittedly limited leaping ability, he consistently disrupted offensive sequences through two games with his timely taps, quick hands and varied schemes. His conditioning has also been an underrated aspect of his defensive profile. Read more…
I know, America. I know. Gotta be a misprint. LeBron must be hurt. AD must be thinking about his golf game. Darvin Ham must be drawing up recipes on that white board instead of defensive sets.
I mean, it can’t be that the NBA’s No. 1 seed in the West is, oh, the best team on that side of the bracket. Surely not.
“Let them keep watching, man,” Nuggets defensive ace Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said of an America that’s largely discovering this NBA monster for the first time now that it’s handed King James and the Lakers a two-game playoff losing skid. “We (were) No. 1 (in the West) for a reason.” Read more…
The King is dead. Long live the Joker.
On a spring night in Colorado when human triple-double machine Nikola Jokic was large and in charge, while a muffed dunk reminded LeBron James what a drag it can be to grow old, the young guns from Denver out-lasted the Slowtime Lakers 108-103 and seized control of the Western Conference Finals.
And maybe, just maybe, your gritty little Nuggets flipped the narrative.
While James will forever be the king, there’s a new sheriff in the West.
The Lakers are yesterday’s news. Can we stop all the yada, yada, yada about the team ESPN fawns over? Denver is sick and tired of being nothing more than a prop on the national stage. Read more…
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.
