LeBron James gave everything in 40-point night, but Nuggets are clutch again, sweep series

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James tried.

In an extraordinary effort — even by his GOAT-like standards — LeBron came out and carried the Lakers from the opening tip, refusing to give up on a series where the Lakers were down 0-3. He was not going to go quietly into that offseason and scored 31 points before halftime — his highest-scoring half in the playoffs ever — on 11-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. At age 38 and in his 20th season, he carried and pushed teammates who came out with “I’ve already got a reservation in Cancun” energy.

Behind LeBron’s play, the Lakers started to show some fight and led 73-58 at the half, with an insane 156.5 offensive rating for the first 24 minutes.

Then came the second half.

Denver settled into their defense and started hitting their 3-pointers while the Lakers started 0-of-4 on shots in the restricted area fueling the Nuggets’ transition game. That 15-point halftime lead melted away quickly under a 23-6 Nuggets run, and Denver took the lead at 4:39 left in the third on an and-one from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

It was close the rest of the way, but as it has been all series the Nuggets made the clutch play — Nikola Jokić hit the game-winning shot on a drive and awkward finish.

JOKER ON A MISSION.

NUGGETS SEEK AN NBA FINALS APPEARANCE.

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