Los Angeles Lakers: Anthony Davis sinks Denver in Game 2, 5 Lessons!
By Ronald Agers
The Los Angeles Lakers won Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals thanks to Anthony Davis.
The Los Angeles Lakers almost gave away a split to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. It took a huge Denver Nuggets blunder and an Anthony Davis bomb with Nikola Jokic dead in his face to lead the Lakers to a win and 2-0 lead in the series! Lake Show Life breaks down an instant classic with Lake Show Life Lessons! The only Los Angeles Lakers postgame report with video analysis!
Let’s be clear here, there is no Los Angeles Lakers website that is happier for the team’s success than Lake Show Life (Man, covering the draft is hard work folks!). Watching this team grow into the clear favorites for their 17th title is a privilege that we don’t take for granted.
But the Los Angeles Lakers need to wake up! They were about 2.1 seconds away from the shock the Los Angeles Clippers felt three games in a row that sent them home!
The Los Angeles Lakers started the game on fire following LeBron James’ dominant performance in the first half. Then something funny happened in the second half. After Dwight Howard kept his voo-doo physicality mind games on Nikola Jokic, a technical foul on Phil Handy of all people (Yes you read that right! Phil Handy!) caused a shift in momentum.
Then the Lakers suffered from several dry spells which allowed the following…
- Allowing the Denver Nuggets to get to the free-throw line.
- Turning the ball over (Especially LeBron James!) in the 4th quarter.
- Allowing Nikola Jokic to get in rhythm.
- Giving Jamal Murray room to operate.
- Nikola Jokic flipping a hook shot over AD for a 103-102 lead with under 30 seconds to go.
Then this happened. Well, we’ll let Jared Dudley describe it!
https://twitter.com/JaredDudley619/status/1307871821035864065
Every Lakers fan around the world said the same thing…KOBE!
Now let Lake Show Life take care of the rest because there is a lot going on here.
- There is a loyal reader out there named McKinley Webb who was watching this game collecting his thoughts to defend Danny Green after Jamal Murray blocked his shot to set up this play.
- Mason Plumlee was the original defender of Anthony Davis. The only reason he was probably out there was to defend the lob at the rim.
- AD runs hard to the left wing and receives the pass from Rajon Rondo. Plumlee never followed him but calls a switch to Jerami Grant who has his back turned worrying about LeBron James.
- Rondo hits him with a perfect bounce pass in AD’s shooting pocket.
- With Jokic playing outstanding contest defense, AD hits him with a fadeaway 3 point shot with time running out! GAME OVER!
- J.R. Smith then cold smacked him across the face in the celebration!
Despite a spirited comeback effort from the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter and stretches of sloppy play from the Lakers to help the cause, the Lake Show escaped with a 105-103 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2. Despite taking a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals, the storylines in the second games were nowhere near the same as the first.
In Game 1, the Lakers used huge runs over the course of the contest to kill the Nuggets spirit. Unlike that game, despite runs in the first half, the Lakers didn’t have complete control. Despite LeBron James putting on an offensive clinic, the Lakers only had a 10-point lead at the half.
In the second half, poor shooting and turnovers allowed the Nuggets to almost sneak out with a win.
Lake Show Life wants to give a shoutout to Nikola Jokic. No one is saying that Denver will win this series but the Joker, barring injury will be a monster to deal with in the years to come. Jokic was killing the Lakers late in the 4th quarter and before AD hit the game-winner he handed a business card to him too.
In short, the Los Angeles Lakers are very lucky to be up 2-0 in this series. Very lucky!
To the new Los Angeles Lakers fans that are checking us out for the first time, welcome to Lake Show Life Lessons. An extended post-game report with video analysis that will cover the entire Western Conference Finals.
Over the next several pages we will provide highlights of certain players and coaches. Afterward, the comment section is loaded with knowledgeable fans adding their basketball knowledge. We usually start with the stars.
Which one? Let’s get to Lesson One and find out!