Lakers finally beat Nuggets, gain 'lifeline' with Game 4 win - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Shiny purple and gold streamers fluttered down from the Crypto.com Arena ceiling on Saturday, not only signifying the Los Angeles Lakers' 119-108 win over the Denver Nuggets to stay alive in their first-round series, but also L.A.'s first win over Denver in nearly 500 days.

Snapping an 11-game losing streak against the defending champions was certainly a better alternative than heading into the offseason being swept out of the playoffs by the Nuggets for a second straight year.

However, down 3-1 in the series, the Lakers will still enter Monday's Game 5 on the edge of elimination.

«Well, the only opportunity for us is just to play the next game,» LeBron James said after scoring 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. «And we've given ourselves another life. We've given ourselves another lifeline, and it's a one-game series for us.»

No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series. Then again, no team in league history had ever come back from being down 3-1 in the NBA Finals before James' Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off the feat in 2016 — over a 73-win Golden State Warriors team, no less.

«Monday's game is the most important game of the season for us, and we understand that and we know that, so it's that stage where you lose, you're done,» said James, who now has the most 30-point games in elimination scenarios with 19. «You win and you keep going.»

While the start of the series tested the team's togetherness — with forward Anthony Davis and head coach Darvin Ham exchanging public shots in between Games 2 and 3 and the ghost of D'Angelo Russell's playoff past reappearing Thursday when he went scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting — Game 4 reflected