The Denver Nuggets are one win from breaking out the brooms on the Lakers as they took a 3-0 series lead with a 112-105 victory on Thursday.
Once again, the Lakers led after the first quarter, as they did in the first two games of the series, but this time the Nuggets didn't take as long to turn it on and by the fourth quarter L.A. was in survival mode.
You could see the life leaving the team as Denver's lead grew and the minutes ticked down. The final score is not indicative of how the fourth quarter went. Denver was never in trouble. The Lakers have been valiant in this series. The Nuggets, who had four players post at least 20 points (Aaron Gordon 29, Nikola Jokic 24, Jamal Murray 22 and Michael Porter Jr. 20), are just too good.
The Lakers were led by Anthony Davis, who finished with 33 points and 15 rebounds, and LeBron James, who went for 26 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
Elsewhere, the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers both scored Game 3 victories on Thursday. Orlando blew out the Cleveland Cavaliers, 121-83, and the 76ers held off the Knicks 125-114 behind Joel Embiid's 50 points. New York and Cleveland lead each its respective series 2-1 heading into Game 4 on Saturday.
Here are the three main takeaways from Thursday night's action:
1. Embiid's 50-spot marred by controversy
Embiid became just the 13th player in NBA history to score 50 points in a playoff game and the first to do so in under 20 shots. He was phenomenal in Philly's Game 3 win over New York before you even consider that he's still working his way back from knee surgery and is also being treated for Bell's palsy, which has been affecting him for more than a week and explains why the left side of his face is drooping and his left eye hasn't been blinking.
Embiid made 13 of his 19 shots, including five 3 pointers. He got to the free-throw line 21 times, making 19, both higher numbers than the Knicks achieved as a team.
Unfortunately, Embiid's night was marred by controversy. There's a very strong argument to be made that he should've been ejected in the first quarter when he hogtied Mitchell Robinson's ankle from the ground and pulled him down. Embiid said after the game he was protecting himself. To me, that's bogus. Watch this video and tell me this is anything close to a legitimate act of protection, let alone a justifiable basketball play:
Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo called the foul "dirty" and Josh Hart said it was "something that can put a guy out for a significant amount of time, so we're lucky [Robinson] didn't get seriously hurt."
Hopefully Hart is right and Robinson isn't seriously hurt, but he was hurt enough to not be able to play in the second half, which is bad enough, and he reportedly left the arena in a walking boot, which sounds worse.
I have no idea how Embiid wasn't hit with a flagrant 2 ejection. If his name was Draymond Green, he might be suspended for the rest of the series. Instead, he got away with a flagrant 1 -- just a regular-old technical foul, and went on to score 50 points and lead Philly to victory.
For the record, here was the explanation that Zach Zarba, the referees' crew chief on Thursday, provided for why Embiid wasn't assessed a flagrant 2, which comes with an automatic ejection.
"In this instance, the crew was unanimous along with the replay center official in Secaucus that this foul was unnecessary but did not rise to the level of a flagrant 2," Zarba said. "The unnecessary contact rose to the level of a flagrant 1 but we were unanimous that this did not rise to the level of excessive contact, unnecessary and excessive, which would have been a flagrant 2 ejection. That's why we kept it a flagrant 1."
Ridiculous. How in the world is grabbing Robinson around the lower leg and pulling him with enough force that you see his ankle visibly roll NOT unnecessary contact? You're telling me that was necessary?
Give me a break. Just say what you really mean, Mr. Zarba: We didn't want to throw Joel Embiid out of a playoff game. That would be an acceptable answer. Probably not for the Knicks, but at least it would be honest. Calling that a necessary basketball play is a joke.
And that wasn't even Embiid's only questionable play. Check out his further shenanigans here.
2. Jalen Brunson is back
The silver lining for the Knicks in losing Game 3 is that Brunson rediscovered his shooting stroke. After beginning the series 16-for-55 from the field, which is by far the worst two-game shooting stretch of his career, Brunson bounced back with 39 points and 13 assists on 13-of-27 shooting on Thursday. He hit three 3-pointers and looked more like himself getting into the paint for his pull-ups.
The Knicks will need more of that in Game 4. While New York leads the series 2-1, the Sixers were robbed of Game 2. The Last Two-Minute report confirmed that the officials blew the non-call on Brunson holding the jersey of Tyrese Maxey on the inbounds steal that triggered the crazy sequence leading to Donte DiVincenzo's game-winning 3-pointer.
Go figure: the refs screwed up. I suppose they had to make things right for the Sixers on Thursday by screwing up again (only this time with New York being on the receiving end), and then trying to explain it away in ridiculous fashion. But anyway, we already talked about the Embiid nonsense. Let's get back to Brunson and the Knicks.
The point is: Philadelphia could be, and probably should be, leading this series. New York doesn't want to go back home 2-2. Yes, it would still have home-court advantage, but Philly would have the momentum. It feels like we're in for a long series, I have to say.
MPJ is lighting it up
The Nuggets had four players score at least 20 points in their Game 3 win on Thursday: Aaron Gordon (29), Nikola Jokic (24), Jamal Murray (22) and Michael Porter Jr. (20). I'm going to focus on Porter, who has been fantastic through the first three games of this series, and really all season.
Stopping Jokic isn't going to happen, and Murray feels pretty damn inevitable, too, if and when he decides it's time to score. Gordon, at this point, is so in tune with Jokic and so comfortable finding random offense that you can't really game-plan for him, either. Porter is the wild card, and when he's cooking, considering all these other weapons the Nuggets force you to deal with, Denver becomes pretty much unbeatable.
On Thursday, Porter finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-16 shooting. He hit multiple jumpers, particularly late as the Lakers were trying to cling to life, that you just can't teach. The elevation. The fade. The high release. It's a thing of beauty.
For the series, Porter is now averaging 20.3 points and nine rebounds on 55% shooting, including 48% from 3.
NBA playoff scores: Thursday, April 25
- Game 3: Magic 121, Cavaliers 83 (Cavs lead 2-1) -- Box score
- Game 3: 76ers 125, Knicks 114 (Knicks lead 2-1) -- Box score
- Game 3: Nuggets 112, Lakers 105 (Nuggets lead 3-0) -- Box score
CBS Sports provided live updates, analysis and highlights throughout Thursday night's action. Follow along below.
