Lakers outshined by Nuggets again in clutch, face 3-0 deficit - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — For the third time in as many games in the Western Conference finals, the outcome was up for grabs in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers couldn't complete the task.

Saturday's 119-108 loss to fall down 3-0 to the West's No. 1 seed might have contained different details than L.A.'s two defeats in Denver to begin the series, but the general theme was the same: the Nuggets did more when it mattered most.

And now, one loss away from their season being over, a Lakers team that started the season 2-10 and completed overhauled the roster just before the All-Star break, is hoping it has one more improbable run left in them.

«Just got to get one,» said LeBron James who finished with 23 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds but missed 11 out of 19 shots — including four out of six in the fourth quarter. «Just one at a time. Just focus on Game 4, and you know, that's all you can really think about.»

If there was one game to get, Saturday seemed attainable. The Lakers were at home, where they had yet to lose this postseason. Nuggets star Nikola Jokic had as many fouls as made field goals (four) through the first three quarters. Anthony Davis (28 points on 11-for-18 shooting, 18 rebounds) was impactful.

But with the game hanging in the balance, the Nuggets took it, using a 13-0 run from the 7:48 mark of the fourth quarter until there was 4:50 remaining to put it out of the Lakers' reach. Jokic, with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the fourth alone, was the best player on the court to close it out.

NBA teams are 0-149 when trailing 3-0 in a best-of-seven series and the Lakers as a franchise have never even forced a Game 5 when in this position, going 0-8 in these scenarios, according to research by ESPN Stats &