On Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets played in the last Western Conference Finals repeat of the 2023–24 season.

Since the beginning of last season, the Nuggets have won seven straight games against the Lakers. To get back in the playoff race, the Lakers wanted to end that run and build momentum. However, the Nuggets pulled away late in the game to win 124–114.

As is usual when these two teams play, the Nuggets got off to a fast start with Nikola Jokic getting the first four points. However, Anthony Davis quickly answered with four of his own.

And then the Lakers got going. Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves both made threes to give them a 12–7 lead.

Before the game, LeBron only needed nine points to hit 40,000 for his career. He got right to work, scoring five points in a row to make it a bigger lead for L.A. The Lakers went ahead by more than 10 points for the first time after Hachimura and Reaves scored. But the Nuggets came back strongly at the end of the first quarter to cut the lead to 33–27.

James made a layup to start the second quarter and then drove for another. When he scored 40,000 points, the Lakers called a timeout to honor the King with a video salute and a standing ovation.

From there, D’Angelo Russell got going by making a pair of threes that put the lead back over ten points. But Michael Porter Jr. was also hot for Denver and kept his team in striking distance.

But Davis scored three points to end the second quarter, and the Lakers went into the locker room ahead 66–58. They had been ahead the whole first half.

To get things close, the Nuggets went on an 8–4 run to start the third quarter. Hachimura then hit a big three. After that, though, Jamal Murray got going and scored some tricky baskets to tie the game at 75.

Then, Reaves scored five straight points for Los Angeles. But Jokic scored seven straight points for Denver, giving them their first lead since the beginning of the quarter. In one stretch, Jokic scored 13 straight points for the Nuggets. However, the game was tied at 89 at the end of the third quarter.

The Nuggets got hot early in the fourth, as they often do, with Porter and Murray making three-pointers. James then made a big three-point play and then a three-pointer to give L.A. the lead again.

For the next few minutes, the teams went back and forth, trading baskets until the end.

After that, the Nuggets took over. Murray and Jokic scored easily, while the Lakers had a tough time. The Lakers had to call a timeout when the Nuggets went up by seven points. From there, L.A. could never get back, and they lost.