On Monday night, we witnessed the best night of playoff basketball so far with both games coming down to wire along with historic performances. The Knicks and Nuggets were both able to come away with dramatic comeback wins with multiple players stepping up in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Lakers and Sixers both teams blew golden opportunities to tie their respective series and have chances to flip the series in their favor at home in Game 3. With both teams now down 2-0 after Monday's action which team had the more devastating loss?
The Sixers came into game 2 with uncertainty of their superstar Joel Embiid's health but managed to get a great performance from him. Both Embiid and Tyrese Maxey led the way Sixers scoring over 30 and making big plays down the stretch. A clutch three point shot by Maxey gave the Sixers a four point lead with 1:09 remaining in the game. The Sixers appeared well on their way to victory up by five with 47.1 seconds and due to a combination of misfortune and missed calls they managed to allow the Knicks to hit back to back three pointers to give them the late lead. The Sixers had an opportunity to send the game to overtime but Embiid missed a three point capping off the unlikely victory for the Knicks. What makes this loss so devastating is that it was not entirely the Sixers fault as the last two minute report later confirmed Maxey had been fouled twice on the controversial inbound play and a timeout call was ignored.
The Lakers came into game 2 trying to avoid a tenth straight loss to the Nuggets and came out with great energy early on. D'angelo Russell set the tone knocking down threes while Anthony Davis was on a roll scoring 24 points in the first half. Los Angeles grew their lead in the third quarter leading by as much as twenty before the Nuggets began to make their run to get back into the game. Still, the Lakers managed to end the third quarter with a ten point lead which quickly evaporated as Murray began to come alive in the fourth quarter. Murray had just 6 points through three quarters but took over in the final quarter making plays basically every time the Nuggets needed it. The Lakers strangely went away from Anthony Davis down the stretch though Lebron managed to get going scoring 12 of his 26 in the fourth as he tried to hold off the Nuggets surge. Lebron later had a chance to hit a wide open dagger three to put the Lakers up but missed giving just enough time for the Nuggets to get the last shot. Murray delivered hitting possibly the greatest shot of his career as he knocked down a fade away at the buzzer beater over Anthony Davis to give the Nuggets the win. The loss is not only devastating because the Lakers played an overall great game but they suffered their tenth straight loss to the Nuggets who now have 2-0 lead in the series.
Both losses were disappointing and costly but the Lakers loss is especially devastating as the twenty point lead they had plus the quality play they got from Russell, James, and Davis still was not enough to beat the Nuggets. Denver appears equipped to answer every punch the Lakers throw at them leaving the Lakers with little room for error. The biggest concern for the Lakers at this point is not allowing doubt to creep in after such a heartbreaking loss to an opponent they have not beaten since 2022. The Sixers still likely have the opportunity to make their series competitive while the Lakers need to find a way to avoid the disaster of last year's series sweep.
Source: NBA YouTube Channel
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