The Los Angeles Lakers moved to within one win of the NBA Finals with a 114-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets in game four of the Western Conference finals in Orlando on Friday (NZ time).
Anthony Davis scored a game-high 34 points, LeBron James added 26 which saw the Lakers take a 3-1 lead in the series and they're now within one win of the NBA Finals. Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday.
Jamal Murray paced the Nuggets with 32 points and eight assists, but he misfired on all three of his 3-point attempts.
Los Angeles led each of its previous two series 3-1 before closing out the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets on its first opportunity to advance.
Meanwhile, the third-seeded Nuggets find themselves in familiar territory facing a 3-1 deficit. They also trailed the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers 3-1 in their first two rounds before stunning each with three-game turnarounds to move on.
"I feel like we played with a lot of energy tonight," Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope told TNT. "Game three, I feel we had a lack of energy starting the game.
"I thought tonight we came out strong. We kept a lead the whole game."
After losing for the first time in the series on Wednesday, the Lakers led by 10 points in the first quarter, 12 in the second and 11 in the third before the Nuggets rallied within 87-86 on a pair of free throws by Monte Morris early in the fourth quarter.
Denver managed to hang within 105-102 and got possession after a Davis turnover. However, James pressured Murray into a short-range miss, and Rajon Rondo countered at the other end for a five-point lead with less than three minutes remaining.
They look set to meet the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, who hold a 3-1 over the Boston Celtics lead in the Eastern Conference finals with game five on Saturday.
The Lakers last appeared in the NBA Finals in 2010.
Reuters
