After leading by as much as 16 points, the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets in Game Four of the Western Conference Finals. The loss eliminated the Purple and Gold from playoff contention. Lakers star LeBron James led all scorers and was one assist away from a triple double with 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
“He came out with a mindset to keep this thing going,” said Lakers head coach Darvin Ham. “He came in the building as he did all year, all throughout the playoffs with a focus and determination to get it done by any means necessary.”
The conclusion of their season is a contrast from their start, as the Lakers were 2-10 to start the season and out of Playoff contention by the All-Star break. The Purple and Gold battled their way out of the Play-In Tournament to defeat the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies and the defending champion Golden State Warriors to reach this point.
This conclusion also marks the first full season of Darvin Ham being a head coach in the NBA. Davis mentioned how Ham is a players-coach.
“He always remained positive no matter what, even when we was in our tough patches … made sure that we understood that it was a long season,” Davis said. “It’s great, a first-year coach coming in the Western Conference Finals, big time. Obviously, we didn’t want it to end that way but we definitely have a lot of respect for him in that locker room.”
From this season, Lakers guard Austin Reaves learned to never give up on the process.
“I said it to [James] after game three or four of the Memphis series … this is the most fun playing basketball I’ve had,” Reaves said. “Just the group of guys that we had, the level that we played at and me being a competitor, obviously I want to get back to this stage and even farther.”
Denver center Nikola Jokic made 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists. James mentioned how he discussed with Davis how the Nuggets were one of the best teams they played against since they became teammates.
“They’re just well-orchestrated, well put together,” James said. “They have scoring, they have shooting, they have playmaking.”
James anchored the Lakers’ offense in the first half, scoring 31 points. The Purple and Gold also had sound perimeter shooting, going 7-11 from downtown.
The Nuggets refused to rely on their reserves throughout the matchup, forcing four of their starters to play for over 40 minutes. They rallied back in the third phase, capitalizing off of the Laker’s missed shots to earn a five-point lead.
The Lakers managed to tie the game three times but were unable to regain the lead in the final phase.
“Even though this is year one and losing sucks, I think we have an opportunity to do something special here,” Ham said. “We’ve just got to build off this.”
