Anthony Davis scored a buzzer-beating three-pointer to snatch victory for the Los Angeles Lakers against Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals in the early hours of Monday.
Davis’ last-gasp winner gave the Lakers a 105-103 victory over the Nuggets and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“That’s a shot Kobe Bryant would hit,” Lakers Coach Frank Vogel said. “To me, AD coming off, just flying to the wing like that, catch-and-shoot with the biggest game on the line of our season, nothing but net, it’s a Mamba shot.”
The Lakers were wearing their Black Mamba jerseys. They were co-designed by Bryant, their Hall of Fame guard who died Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash. Davis said wearing the jerseys that mean so much to the team made his winner feel even better.
“In the jersey we wore tonight, it just makes it even more special,” he said.
Davis finished with 31 points. He scored Los Angeles’ last 10 points and had 22 in the second half to help the Lakers avoid becoming the latest victim of a Denver comeback. LeBron James added 26 points and 11 rebounds.
The Nuggets had trailed by as much as 16, but Nikola Jokic scored 11 straight Denver points down the stretch, including a basket that made it 103-102 with 20 seconds to play.
Alex Caruso then missed a 3-pointer and Jamal Murray blocked Danny Green’s shot out of bounds with 2.1 seconds to play. Rajon Rondo inbounded under the basket and found Davis curling toward the sideline, and the All-Star forward swished it to put the Lakers halfway to the NBA Finals.
Jokic had 30 points and nine assists, and Murray scored 25 points.
Game 3 is Tuesday night.
