In Game 3 of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, the Denver Nuggets advanced to the second round with a 112-105 victory led by Aaron Gordon (29 points, 15 rebounds), Nikola Jokic (24 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists), and the team.

With 22 points from Kitchener, Ontario’s Jamal Murray, the reigning NBA champion Nuggets easily defeated LeBron James and the Lakers for the 11th time in a row.

Denver, which began with their sweep of the Western Conference finals the previous season, gained control in the third quarter and coasted to its fifth consecutive road victory over Los Angeles with 20 points from Michael Porter Jr.

In Los Angeles on Saturday night is Game 4. Never before has an NBA club overcome a 0–3 playoff deficit.

The Lakers have lost to Denver in the postseason seven times in a row over the previous two years. Anthony Davis led the team with 33 points and 15 rebounds, while James chipped in with 26 points and nine assists. The last time Los Angeles defeated the Nuggets was on December 16, 2022.

With a play-in victory over New Orleans to secure the seventh spot, Los Angeles, who had played mainly excellently since the holidays, advanced into the postseason led by Austin Reaves, who finished with 22 points.

But the Nuggets are the same nightmare matchup for the Lakers — or any opponent, really — that they were a year ago in the conference finals.

Davis and James were outstanding once again, but they can’t do it alone. The Lakers missed 15 of their first 16 3-point attempts in Game 3, going nearly 34 minutes between 3-point buckets.

D’Angelo Russell went scoreless in 24 minutes of play for the Lakers, who got only two assists out of their inconsistent third option on offense. Russell missed all seven of his shots, including six 3-point attempts.

Meanwhile, Gordon had his highest-scoring game in the Nuggets’ past two playoff runs, highlighted by 10 points in the third quarter while Denver took control. Jokic made nine of his 13 shots and barely missed his 17th career postseason triple-double.

The second-seeded Nuggets began their title defense with two wins in Denver, pulling away late in Game 1 before snatching Game 2 with a furious comeback capped by Murray’s winning jumper at the buzzer.

After blowing a 20-point lead in the second half of Game 2, the seventh-seeded Lakers were left feeling frustrated, outmanned — and occasionally confused, according to Davis, who said the Lakers sometimes don’t know what they’re doing when faced with Denver’s offensive versatility.

None of those problems had been alleviated in Game 3, and now the Lakers are one loss away from the end of James’ remarkable 21st NBA season. Los Angeles hadn’t played a home game in 16 days, and it has won just once at home since March 24.

The Nuggets went 16-4 in last season’s playoffs, and they appear capable of another steamroll through the postseason after comfortably handling the talented Lakers through three games.

A matchup with Denver is brutal even with the Lakers’ regulars all playing well, and Russell’s disappearing act was compounded by another quiet game from starter Rui Hachimura, who had only five points while taking four shots in 28 minutes.

Denver turned a small halftime deficit into a 10-point lead with a 24-10 run to start the second half led by Gordon and Murray, who combined for 19 points in the third quarter. The Lakers never got closer than eight points down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

A small group of Lakers fans screamed “Fire Darvin!” toward Lakers coach Darvin Ham as the Lakers’ supporters left the arena in the closing moments.

Spencer Dinwiddie scored eight points to lead the Lakers, who had not scored from the bench since Taurean Prince, the only Los Angeles reserve who scored in the two games in Denver, despite Hachimura and Russell’s problems making it meaningless.

After missing action since February 1 due to an injured right foot, Lakers swingman Jarred Vanderbilt did not make a comeback. Christian Wood and Cam Reddish were still sidelined due to injury, but Ham stated the team will provide major information on Friday.