Game Grades: Nuggets showcase talent disparity with Game 3 win over Lakers in Western Conference finals
May 20—Nuggets grades from Game 3 in Los Angeles:
Offense
It was far from the best Nikola Jokic game, and Denver needed a historic first-half performance from Jamal Murray to take a slim lead into the halftime break. But the Nuggets made shots when they needed to and had five different players score in double figures. There was no Jokic triple-double or even a Jokic double-double, but it couldn't have mattered less. Even on a night where the offense wasn't the best, the Nuggets were still able to do enough to win.
Grade: B
Defense
This win will be one Michael Malone remembers for a long time. The defensive effort the Denver coach always looks for was there, and despite the Lakers shooting 10 more free throws than the Nuggets, they still bore down when they needed to and got stops in the fourth quarter. Denver once again held LeBron James (23 points on 19 shots) to an offensive performance that is well below his standards, and Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell remains a non-factor (arguably a negative factor for L.A.) in this series.
Grade: A
Coaching
Give Malone a lot of credit. This game could've gotten away from the Nuggets in the third quarter, when Murray finally cooled off and Jokic was on the bench with foul trouble. Malone continued to have faith in Jeff Green after recent struggles in this series against the Lakers and in the previous round against the Suns, and it paid off. Green gave Denver huge minutes off the bench, providing solid defense on James and the other Lakers bigs. On the other side, L.A. coach Darvin Ham keeps trusting Russell to start games, and it keeps leading to big deficits after the first quarter. Russell was finally benched for much of the second half, playing just 20 minutes in the game, but it was too little, too late as Murray feasted on him in the first half. Now the Lakers are in a 3-0 hole they can't get out of.
Grade: A-
Overall
The Nuggets are going to the NBA Finals — let that sink in, Denver. There's no such thing as a jinx here. Regardless of the fact that no team has ever lost a series when taking a 3-0 lead, the Nuggets are just simply much better than the Lakers. Yeah, L.A. has James and Anthony Davis, but Denver has six high-quality playoff performers at a time of year where a team is lucky to have four. The Nuggets are deep, talented, hungry and should be the runaway favorites to win the franchise's first championship. They proved that in Game 3 with arguably the best win in franchise history — so far.
Grade: A+