Nikola Jokic scored 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists as the Denver Nuggets swept the Western Conference finals with a 113-111 win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night.
The top-seeded Nuggets won their first conference championship in 47 NBA seasons after overcoming LeBron James' 31-point first half and a 15-point halftime lead in Game 4. Jamal Murray scored 25 points.
After his highest-scoring playoff half, James scored 40 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, but the deep, dynamic Nuggets won their sixth straight game.
James missed two matching attempts in the waning seconds, with Aaron Gordon attempting to block his buzzer-beater.
Jokic's seventh playoff triple-double by the third quarter broke Wilt Chamberlain's 1967 NBA record.
Despite picking up his fifth foul halfway through the fourth quarter, Jokic spearheaded the Nuggets' tough defense and scored when Denver needed it.
Jokic's 25-foot fallaway 3-pointer ended the Lakers' five-minute comeback. Jokic scored the game-winning layup after Anthony Davis tied it with 1:11 remaining.
With 26 seconds remaining, James horribly missed a weird fallaway jumper. Murray and Gordon, who scored 22 points, stopped James' buzzer-beater after Murray missed a turnaround to give the Lakers one more opportunity.
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