The conference championship games are off to a rousing start. Tuesday night, the Nuggets defeated the Lakers 132-126 after trailing by 20 points midway through the fourth quarter.
The stars were blank. With 10 rebounds, Anthony Davis pulled down 40 points. LeBron James scored a nondescript 26/12/9.
And Nikola Jokic, who led Denver with 34 points, 21 rebounds, and 14 assists, utterly dominated. (Jamal Murray tacked on 31 additional points just for kicks.)
The second half held the most intrigue. The Lakers roared back after the Nuggets extended their advantage. Los Angeles started stacking stops and shooting the lights out offensively.
Los Angeles also succeeded in changing its matchup against Jokic in the fourth quarter.
Rui Hachimura handled the initial assignment against Joker while Anthony Davis started to saunter off Aaron Gordon. Here are some opinions on the in-game changes and potential Game 2 developments.