In a movie scene that has played over and over again, the Lakers started fast and finished slow as they fell to the Nuggets in Game 3 on Thursday, 112-105, falling behind 3-0 in the series.

LA’s superstar duo once again came out strong. Anthony Davis ended the game with 33 points, 15 rebounds and three assists. LeBron James pitched in with 26 points with six rebounds, nine assists, two steals and one block.

Austin Reaves was the only other Laker to reach double figures in scoring, though he finished with 22 points on just 8-17 shooting with a large chunk of that coming in garbage time. Spencer Dinwiddie chipped in eight points and Taurean Prince had seven.

One game removed from seven 3-pointers in Denver, D’Angelo Russell put up perhaps his worst performance of the playoffs as a Laker, going 0-7 from the field and 0-6 from the 3-point line.

As we’ve seen in every matchup against the Nuggets, the Lakers jumped out to a fast start and looked completely locked in offensively and defensively. Rui Hachimura, who had a rough first two games, got a much-needed dunk early on.

LA had an eight-point lead, which became five after Michel Porter Jr. made a 3-pointer. AD and LeBron’s dominance continued with them putting their stamp on the game offensively early.

The Nuggets got their usual looks, including an incredibly easy layup for Nikola Jokić. D’Lo, who couldn’t miss during the last game, was off to a slow start, missing his first three shots. The Lakers’ bench was still cold with the only points being two free throws by Spencer Dinwiddie.

A very welcomed sight was Austin Reaves’s strong start. He had also struggled in the first two games. At the end of the first, LA was up 10.

Spencer Dinwiddie opened the second quarter for the Lakers with a layup, adding to the team’s only bench point. The Nuggets cut the deficit to seven with a second-chance opportunity, which they thrived on.

Aaron Gordon was up to 12 points, keeping the Nuggets within striking distance. With four minutes left until halftime, the vibes of the game were much lower than the start and the Lakers were clinging to an eight-point lead.

After we finally saw Gabe Vincent find a tiny ounce of offense with a midrange shot, the Nuggets answered back with a 6-0 run and it was a four-point game. A lob from LeBron to AD for a dunk stopped the bleeding momentarily.

Gabe’s sensational defense on Jamal opened up an opportunity for an Austin dunk, but he was fouled hard by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and made two free throws. The Nuggets continued to battle back and led by four at halftime, 53-49.

The second half opened with an exchange of baskets between Murray and Reaves. The Lakers’ lead was only by two. Unfortunately, D’Lo was still cold and couldn’t find his shot.

After the Lakers missed, Murray’s layup tied the game, and Michael Porter Jr.’s 3-pointer put the Nuggets up by three.

 

A driving layup by AD got the Lakers to within one after they kept settling for shots. Denver challenged a foul on AD by the Joker, which they not only lost but also saw a goaltend added to the play. Gordon was proving to be a challenge to guard for LA, as he was up to 20 points.

After Jamal’s 3-pointer, the Nuggets had a six-point lead. The lead was extended to eight thanks to Gordon, the bane of LA’s existence for the time being. The Nuggets were putting their championship stamp all over the Lakers, extending their lead to 10.

Luckily for the purple and gold, AD was still dominating and helping keep them within striking distance. A LeBron layup cut the lead to four, but the Nuggets easily answered back to extend their lead to 12.

At the end of the quarter, the Nuggets were up 83-75.

LeBron started the fourth quarter with a midrange shot and MPJ answered back with a shot of his own. It was a nine-point game, but it felt like a 22-point lead for the Nuggets.

The crowd was finally able to cheer for something after Taurean Prince made a three to cut the lead to nine. Taurean provided even more offense with a layup, but LA couldn’t find enough defense to stop the Nuggets from constantly answering back.

With six minutes left, LeBron made a 3-pointer to inject some life into the home team. But it didn’t matter because the Joker made a layup right back. It was a 10-point lead for the Nuggets with Rui going to the free-throw line, but he missed both.

The Lakers looked completely defeated, while the Nuggets looked like champions. Something all too familiar happened as the Lakers couldn’t find the answer to beat this team in the second half of each matchup.

Even with 3:02 left, a wild layup by Joker and a free throw put the dagger into the hearts of LA. A layup by LeBron and Austin was the start of a tiny glimmer of a fake comeback, but the Joker did another layup and put a quick end to that.

The Nuggets started wasting time and the Lakers attempted another fake comeback with AD and Austin making layups, but it didn’t result in anything special. The Lakers played the foul game, but they kept fouling Gordon who demolished them all game.

Austin even made a 3-pointer for fun, but none of it mattered as the game was over and they were making the last few seconds unnecessarily long.