s Lakers avoided a first-round elimination in the Western Conference playoff series against the Denver Nuggets.

Four-time NBA champion James rose to the occasion, as did Anthony Davies, who had 25 points and 23 rebounds in the 119-108 win in LA.

It was the Lakers’ first victory over the Nuggets since December 2022, ending Denver’s 11-game winning streak in the fixture.

“We’ve given ourselves another lifeline, and it’s a one-game series for us,” James told reporters.

With one championship ring and a tenacious veteran core, the Denver Nuggets are a daunting matchup for any opponent in the NBA.

They're clearly a particular nightmare for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, who are one game away from an early summer after Denver stretched its winning streak in this rivalry to a whopping 11 games.

LeBron James says there's things from the first two games that the Lakers are happy and excited about, but they know that it all comes down to being able to close games, which they haven't done:

As time ticked away, and the game got closer, there was only one way that Game 2 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets could end.

For most of the game, the Lakers believed they were on the verge of snapping their nine-game losing streak to the Nuggets, overcoming their recent history and getting back into a series that only they truly think they have a chance in. After an Austin Reaves 3-pointer, they led 68-48 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

After a heartbreaking 101-99 loss in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets on Monday, LeBron James was one of several Los Angeles Lakers players to criticize the officiating during his postgame comments.

"I don't understand what's going on in the replay center, to be honest," James said.

James has voiced his displeasure with the league's replay process several times this season, such as when his foot was ruled to be on the 3-point line in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and out of bounds in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Los Angeles Lakers reserve combo forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who's been sidelined since early February with a right foot injury, was recently spotted wearing a walking boot while in Denver as LA prepared for the first game of its ongoing first round Western Conference playoffs series against the reigning champion Nuggets. LA would go on to lose, 114-103, in Game 1 on Saturday, and looked particularly vulnerable on the break and along the perimeter defensively.

The player who could probably help solve that issue the most, unfortunately, is Vanderbilt.

LeBron on Denver: "... I've been in the postseason way too long in my career to know that you don't get too high off of Game 1 or get too high over whoever the matchup is. You gotta just stay even-keeled. There's gonna be a lot of swings throughout the course of the game, throughout the course of a series. And it's how long you can just keep your mind even-keeled and keep the main thing the main thing. They're a great team. We know what we're capable of. But the game is not won in the transcripts. The game is won in between the four lines. And that's all that matters."

LeBron James scored a team-high 23 points, to go along with nine assists and nine rebounds. Lakers D’Angelo Russell, who scored 21 points and added seven assists, was also instrumental in the victory, shooting 5 of 11 from 3. Former Pelican Anthony Davis put up 20 points and notched a game-high 15 rebounds.

Williamson, whose 40 points paced both teams, also finished with 11 rebounds and five assists. He walked to the locker room in the final minutes of the game with what Pelicans coach Willie Green later described as left leg soreness.

But with Williamson, the Pelicans shook off their Sunday sluggishness with a back-and-forth night. They carried a 10-point lead into the early seconds of the second quarter, but Los Angeles found its momentum before the break and took a 10-point lead into halftime. From there, the Lakers kept building in the third as they continued to limit CJ McCollum (nine points total) and Brandon Ingram (11 points), who looked off after playing in his second game back after missing the previous 12 games with a knee injury.

LeBron James closed out his 21st NBA regular season looking invigorated, formidable on both ends of the court and ready to produce in the postseason.

James had 28 points, 17 assists, 11 rebounds and five steals, and the Los Angeles Lakers claimed the eighth seed in the Western Conference with a 124-108 victory over New Orleans on Sunday that dropped the Pelicans out of a coveted top-six seeding.

LeBron James had 37 points — including six in the final minute — and 10 rebounds, and Anthony Davis had 36 points and 14 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies 123-120 on Friday night.

Davis, returning from a left eye injury that kept him out of the Lakers’ loss to Golden State on Tuesday, was 11 of 22 in this game. James shot 13 for 20 to help the Lakers snap a two-game losing streak.

“I felt fine. No issues,” Davis said. “Felt pretty good out there.”

This is what happens when your owner decides to go out and buy a football team. Before Josh Harris bought the Commies, he would have commissioned a statue for Allen Iverson that would rival the Rocky statue at the Art Museum. Heck, it would put the Rocky statue out of business.

But now that he's got that godforsaken football team draining his bank account, this is the best the Sixers could do. A statue for ants to honor one of the greatest players to ever throw on a Sixers uniform. One of the most influential players this city has ever seen. Rarely do Philly athletes get love and adoration by fans outside of the city, but Allen Iverson was one of the rare exceptions that everybody seemed to love. How many Philly jerseys do you see people outside of this area wear? I'd go ahead and put that number at 1, and it's always going to be an Iverson jersey.

The Los Angeles Lakers recently faced off against the Memphis Grizzles. With this being their second last game before the play-in series, the Lakers wanted to secure a win to get better odds going into the next stage of the tournament. As always, the team’s lead scorer LeBron James leads an effective offensive effort during the course of the clash. His on-court performance was enough to leave the Grizzles’ rookie player, GG Jackson, completely confused.

LeBron first gave Golden State credit for the shot making, starting with Draymond Green going 5 for 5 from 3 in the 1st half, and later added this when asked about playing without Anthony Davis: “It’s pretty much impossible to make up for what he does for our ball club.”

The Lakers have said they would prioritize health over seeding down the stretch. But these last few days proved that was easier said than done as LAL slipped from No. 8 to holding just a half game lead over No. 10 GSW