DENVER — LeBron James missed all six of his three-pointers — including an 0-for-3 mark in the fourth quarter to extend his streak of 19 straight threes he's failed to convert in the fourth this postseason.
Anthony Davis clanked 11 of his 15 field goal attempts. And the Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 2 of the Western Conference finals to the Nuggets, 108-103, to drop consecutive games for the first time since mid-March.
As insurmountable as a 2-0 deficit might seem against the West's No. 1 team — especially with James and Davis struggling on Thursday — the Lakers' leaders vowed to bounce back with the series shifting to L.A. «I think we improved from Game 1 to Game 2,» said James after finishing with 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting, 10 assists, 9 rebounds and 4 steals in 40 minutes. «And if we can do the same thing from Game 2 to Game 3, we put ourselves in a position to win.» After leading by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, the Lakers fell down by 12 midway through the fourth.
They mounted a rally — but Davis missed a three with 3:15 remaining that could have cut the deficit to two; he missed another three with 40.5 seconds left that could have cut it to one; and James, after stealing a Jamal Murray pass, missed a layup with 26.4 seconds left that could have cut it to two. «I liked all the looks that I got today,» Davis said after scoring 18 points — less than half of his 40-point output in Game 1 — with 14 rebounds and 4 blocks. «Just a lot of them were short.