The Lakers are almost to the NBA Finals, but the Nuggets are making it hurt

Davis’s ankle, which he sprained midway through the fourth quarter after attempting a jump shot, is easily the biggest cause for worry. After falling to the court, the all-star forward writhed in pain, clutched his angle and initially struggled to get back on his feet.

Rather than return to the locker room for treatment or take a seat on the bench, Davis spent the ensuing timeout walking around the court in hopes of keeping it loose. He then flexed his ankle and remained in the game for the closing stretch, struggling to move at times on defense while still finding ways to contribute on offense by finishing a lob dunk and hitting a pair of late free throws.

The Lakers need Davis at or near full strength to close out the Nuggets, who erased 3-1 series deficits against the Utah Jazz in the first round and the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round. Davis addressed reporters without any wrap on his ankle, and he signaled that he would be ready for Game 5 on Saturday.

“Ankle feels fine,” Davis said. “Got tonight and [Friday] before the game to get it back to — I don’t want to say back to where it was — but good enough to play. I rolled it pretty bad but not too bad. I’ll be fine.”

Lakers Coach Frank Vogel was optimistic but noncommittal.

“We’ll see how it responds to treatment,” Vogel said. “There’s always concern with an injury like that. It was good for him to play through it, but we’ll see how he responds overnight.”

Davis is leading the Lakers in minutes, points and blocks per game in the playoffs, and he scored a game-high 34 points, including L.A.’s first 12 points, on Thursday. His versatile defense has been useful against Denver’s two stars, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, and he’s been a late-game workhorse. Of course, this would be a tied series if not for Davis’s Game 2 buzzer-beater.

LeBron James showed he could pick up some of the slack, switching onto Murray defensively to help close out the Game 4 win. But James, at age 35, has exhibited signs of fatigue down the stretch in this series. During Game 2, he committed a number of uncharacteristic turnovers. During Game 4, he tugged on his shorts during one late dead ball and struggled to find the range on his jumper.

To be clear, James did plenty to bring home the win, getting a pair of stops on Murray, digging into his back of tricks to draw fouls on two key offensive possessions and finishing with 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. If Davis is limited in any way in Game 5, though, added burden will fall to James as a scorer, playmaker and late-game closer.

“I’ve got pretty good energy when I’m on the floor all the time,” James said, unconvincingly. “It’s winning time and I don’t have a chance or time to be feeling tired. I’m tired now. That’s when I’m tired, when it’s zeros on the clock. That’s when I’m tired. I’m not tired during the game.”

Denial can be a powerful tool for a competitor, and here James wielded it well. Vogel has sought to limit James’s minutes as much as possible during the postseason, and he hasn’t sustained top gear nearly as often as he did during the 2018 playoffs. Los Angeles looks exceptional when James is racing out on the break, and mortal when he settles for jumpers or moves the ball around the perimeter when play slows in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers must also take note of their good fortune on Thursday: Jokic found himself in serious foul trouble for the second time in the series after he committed two fouls on Davis in less than a minute. Denver is at its most potent when Jokic is capable of playing hard and free, and he will be primed to take advantage if Davis is not at full strength.

“They went to the foul line 35 times,” Nuggets Coach Michael Malone said, before referencing the Lakers’ recent appeal to the NBA league office, which argued that the referees were missing fouls committed by Denver on James. “I think I’m going to have to go through the proper channels like they did to see if we can figure out how we can get some more free throws.”

Murray, meanwhile, won’t go quietly into the night. Denver is 6-0 in elimination games during these playoffs, with Murray posting averages of 32.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists in those games. His double-clutch layup past James in Game 4 was one of the most sensational plays of the entire NBA restart at Disney World, and the Lakers have yet to find a way to consistently limit his ability to create high-efficiency shots.

The Lakers’ loud high jinks and trash talk that marked the beginning of this series have given way to a quiet respect for the Nuggets, and rightfully so. Los Angeles is fortunate to be up 3-1, and Davis’s ankle is no small variable in a series that has proven to be hard fought.

The Nuggets “are extremely difficult to play against on both sides of the ball,” Vogel said. “They are well-coached defensively. They have great speed and physicality. Obviously, [Murray and Jokic] are just playing at an extremely high level offensively, as is their supporting cast. The bench has been fantastic. [We have] great respect for this team and definitely know that we have a lot of work to do to finish this series.”