Lakers collapse in fourth quarter, lose on buzzer beater to Nuggets

Despite holding a 20-point lead in the second half, the Lakers collapsed in Game 2 on Monday, losing yet again to the Nuggets.

In the most crushing loss to the Nuggets yet, the Lakers watched a 20-point second-half lead crumble as they fell to Denver in Game 2 on Monday on a Jamal Murray buzzer-beater, 101-99, falling behind 2-0 in the series.

Anthony Davis put the Lakers on his back, scoring 32 points with 11 rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block. D’Angelo Russell, who has constantly struggled against the Nuggets, finally came to play, scoring 23 points and going 7-11 from behind the arc.

LeBron James scored 26 points and was an assisting machine, dishing 12 of them. He also grabbed eight rebounds.

The game began with an exchange of 3-pointers from Michael Porter Jr. and D’Angelo Russell. The Lakers rolled to a 10-point lead as the Nuggets struggled offensively, thanks in part to LeBron’s incredible block on Jamal Murray.

The energy was electric between both teams as they were hot offensively. The Lakers lead was cut to five after a three by Nikola Jokić. As LeBron got his rest, AD started picking up the load offensively. The Nuggets made their usual surge, but LA was able to keep the lead, 28-24.

The second quarter began with the Nuggets winning a challenge against the Lakers and cutting the deficit to two. D’Lo was still cooking from behind the arc, nailing another one to extend their lead to five.

Both teams were playing sloppy but high-energy and fast-paced. It was a one-point game after some LA turnovers. D’Lo stopped the bleeding by drilling another three. Luckily, the purple and gold were still maintaining a lead while the Nuggets seemed to gain more steam.

AD was taking over offensively for LA, doing a bit of everything including nailing a few of his usual midrange shots. The Lakers played about the best basketball they could to close the first half, led by AD, who was unstoppable. D’Lo nailed yet another three late in the half and the Lakers led 59-44 at the break.

The second half began with an and-one by AD. The Nuggets knocked down two easy shots immediately after but the Lakers extended their lead to 20 after Austin Reaves knocked down a 3-pointer.

The purple and gold had all the momentum, even as the Nuggets made a few shots, including another three by MPJ. AD could not be stopped, though, no matter what the Nuggets threw at him. He was locked in and putting in one of the best playoff performances of his career.

The Nuggets went on an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 11. Unfortunately, AD had four fouls and had to sit out the last few minutes of the third period, which was crucial for LA to keep the lead at bay. Unsurprisingly, the momentum shifted toward the Nuggets.

Luckily, D’Lo yet again stopped the bleeding with another 3-pointer. The Lakers hung onto the lead at the end of the third, 79-69.

The Lakers' lead was in single digits to start the fourth. Nerves were high as they needed to strike first to start a momentum shift. Taurean answered the call for LA, knocking down another 3-pointer, being the only player again off the bench to make an impact offensively.

It was down to a seven-point lead for the purple and gold with the tides shifting in the Nuggets' favor. Denver cut the deficit to five, even though their other superstar, Jamal Murray, was not making his usual clutch shots.

Rui was struggling as much as he has as a Laker but knocked down a free throw to add one point to the lead. But of course, the Nuggets made it a two-point game, but LeBron answered with a 3-pointer.

LeBron knocked down another clutch 3-pointer to extend the lead to eight. There were five more minutes for the purple and gold to hang in there and steal the win. LeBron, who was exhausted, was taking over offensively with clutch shots.

With under three minutes left, the Lakers were clinging onto a four-point lead, which then turned into a one-point lead after a Joker and-one. LeBron stole the ball for a dunk on the next possession to move ahead three points, but then conceded a game-tying MPJ 3-pointer.

At the 1:02 mark, D’Lo made a clutch layup for LA to retake the lead by two. Jamal knocked down two free throws to then tie the game up again.

After another clutch shot by LeBron to take a two-point lead, a few seconds were left, and Jamal put the icing on the cake on his incredible night, tying the game with 30 seconds left and winning it with a buzzer-beater.

Key Takeaways:

The Lakers cannot take their foot off the gas pedal. The Nuggets are champions for a reason. They can make runs even when down 20. You have to make it hard for them. You take a 20-point lead, you need to make it 30.

Wasting a masterful AD performance and D’Lo finally showing up against this team is terrible. This was an incredibly demoralizing loss, not much else left to say.

The Lakers’ next game will be Game 3 on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets at 7:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.