Austin Reaves reminded the Lakers of a bitter memory. The LA side lost their third straight outing against the Denver Nuggets tonight. And, it had been a bitter journey against the Nuggets since the 2023 postseason. The defending championships swept the Western Conference Finals and stormed their way into the 2023 NBA Finals. Despite the embarrassing losing streak, the purple and gold didn’t seem to have learned their lesson.

The Hillybilly Kobe didn’t shy away from pointing out the team’s repeated mistakes after tonight’s loss. Reaves said, “Other than Game 1 [in last year’s playoffs], we had leads late in games. It gets down to the last 3,4,5 minutes, and it’s a team that really executes. … Ever since the playoffs last year, they’ve beat us in the last 4-5 minutes.”

The Saturday night game was more than just the Lakers’ bitter loss. It also had a historical significance. LeBron James went on to become the first player to record 40,000 point in the NBA history. The superstar reached the magical number with ease in the first half and also helped the team have a comfortable lead over the Nuggets.

While it seemed like the Lakers would take a famous win during James’ historic night, the visitors played the spoilsport. The merciless counter-attack by the Nuggets late in the fourth quarter took the game away from the Lakers for the nth time in a row. The scores were evenly poised in the fourth quarter, giving both teams a chance at the prize.

At the 4th minute mark, both teams’ scores were tied at 108 and within a matter of two minutes, the Nuggets expanded the lead to 9 points. Eventually, they ended the game with a comfortable  124-114 win.

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The Nuggets have had similar modus operandi for several of their close wins. Let’s take a closer look at their clutch prowess.

The Nuggets steal the game at the end

As Reaves pointed out the Nuggets’ last few attacks on the LA side, the visitors seemed to have a special approach to play the last minutes in a game. Notably, during the Nuggets visit to the Chase Center this season, they chased down a 16-point deficit late in the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors.

Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, and Aaron Gordon have been the core of their attack. In tonight’s game, Murray brought out his ball handling and shooting prowess, Joker dominated the paint with his strong stature while Gordon assisted with the lob dunks. This has been the story of the Nuggets in the finals minute of the game.

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Will the Lakers find an antidote for the Joker force? Let us know in the comments.