Denver Nuggets Sweep Lakers to Head to NBA Finals
LOS ANGELES — The Denver Nuggets are going to the N.B.A. finals for the first time in franchise history after completing a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals with a 113-111 win on Monday.
The Nuggets stamped out the final gasps from the Lakers, who had kept their season alive for weeks after it was presumed finished. “I thought we fought as hard as we could fight,” Lakers Coach Darvin Ham said.
Now, Denver awaits the winner of the Eastern Conference finals, in which the Miami Heat have a 3-0 series lead over the Boston Celtics. Game 4 in the East is Tuesday in Miami.
For the Nuggets, the win on Monday culminated a yearslong process in which their core players grew together, weathered challenging injuries and faced questions about their ability to even compete in the West. The team’s best player, center Nikola Jokic, won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award twice, but could get to the conference finals only once.
Source: The New York Times
