Live updates and highlights from Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals
With a 3-0 series lead, the No. 1-seeded Nuggets are one win away from making their first-ever NBA Finals appearance. To get there, however, they must defeat LeBron James and the Lakers. Stay here for live updates and analysis as Denver takes on the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Live updates
Pre-game updates
How they compare (4:30 p.m.): It’s Game 4. Here’s a breakdown from sportswriter Bennett Durando on three keys for the Nuggets tonight.
What do bettors think? BetMGM has the Lakers as 3.5 point favorites to win the game. The plus-minus is 224.5. —Joe Nguyen
Farewell, Melo (4:30 p.m.): In case you missed it, former Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony announced early today that he is retiring after 19 years in the NBA. The sports world took to social media to send him their best wishes. Anthony, 38, walks away with the ninth-most points scored in NBA history. His 13,970 points in Denver are the third in franchise history. He spent more than seven seasons in Denver and led the team to seven straight playoff appearances. —Joe Nguyen
Nuggets-Lakers Game 4: essential reading
Kiszla: Michael Malone with Nuggets five wins from first NBA championship: “I want to make history.”
It’s the trophy a basketball nerd who became a billionaire wants the most. And it’s Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s job to turn Stan Kroenke’s impossible dream into reality, before the boss decides there’s a smarter way to spend his money.
If that’s not pressure on a manager with generational talent named Nikola Jokic, what is?
“I joke with Stan and Josh Kroenke. I see the Rams winning the Super Bowl, the Avs winning the Stanley Cup, and the teams they own winning championships. And I tell them, ‘Here with the Nuggets, we have to do our part,'” Malone told me late Saturday night, after 37 points from guard Jamal Murray led Denver to a 119-108 win over the Los Lakers. Angeles, pushing the Nuggets within a win of their first NBA Finals berth in franchise history, writes Mark Kiszla. Read the full story.
Nuggets’ Bruce Brown steals Lakers celebration before elimination game: ‘It was good’
In another year, or maybe even a few months earlier this season, Nuggets sniper Michael Porter Jr. would have gladly taken the dagger at 3.
The Nuggets led 96-94 with just 7:04 remaining in Game 3 on Saturday, and Porter found himself on the wing with a window. Generally, these are the only prerequisites Porter needs to lift.
But, in a nod to Denver’s selflessness in their stunning Game 3 win and Porter’s continued maturation, the 6-foot-10 sniper decided to turn a good shot into a great one. . He threw it in the corner and Bruce Brown, who was eager to deliver an uppercut to the Lakers’ chances, reports Mike Singer. Read the full story.
The nuggets crush Lakers hopes with three greatest strengths, one at a time: “They are a strength. Hard for us to stop.
With a triad of methods to deliver a third successive strike to the heart, the Denver Nuggets humiliated Hollywood, turned Crypto.com Arena into a crypt and dashed the Lakers’ hopes once and for all.
Los Angeles isn’t officially done yet, but even the NBA’s most famous franchise hasn’t achieved what LeBron James and company must attempt now. In playoff history, teams leading a 3-0 series have won the series 149 of 149 times.
To take a 3-0 lead, the Nuggets impressed LA with a neat and comprehensive display of their three greatest forces, one at a time. That left the Lakers just to tip the scales, reports Bennett Durando. Read the full story.
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