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SPORTS Saturday 26 September 2020
Davis, Lakers beat Nuggets to take 3-1 lead in West finals

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) throws that cut it to four,
— The Los Angeles Lakers before the Lakers took a
are a victory away from 60-55 edge to the locker
returning to the NBA Finals room.
— and only another come- The Nuggets shot 59% in the
back from 3-1 down by the first half but the Lakers had
Denver Nuggets can stop an 18-2 advantage in sec-
them. ond-chance points.
Anthony Davis scored 34 The Lakers seemed to be
points, LeBron James had taking control when Ra-
26 and the Lakers beat the jon Rondo and Kentavious
Nuggets 114-108 on Thurs- Caldwell-Pope combined
day night in Game 4 of the for a flurry that pushed the
Western Conference finals. lead to 11 with under 4 min-
"We played great down utes remaining in the third,
the stretch, we played but Michael Porter Jr. hit
great overall," Davis said. two 3-pointers late in the
"Still some things that we period that cut it to 87-84
can fix if we want to put this going to the fourth.
thing away." TIP-INS
Davis got the Lakers off to Lakers: Howard hadn't
a fast start with his scoring started in any of his 10 post-
and James helped them with a rebound. We had stantly turned back from Game 3 but the 6-foot-10 season appearances and
finish it with his defense, too many empty posses- there by a key stop or re- forward acknowledged didn't play much at all in
forcing Jamal Murray into sions tonight." bound by the Lakers. that his two-rebound per- the last round, when the
some late misses after the Game 5 is Saturday night, "We just had so many formance was "unaccept- Lakers went small to match
guard had kept the Nug- when the Lakers can reach breakdowns throughout able." He came out much up against the Houston
gets in it with an array of the NBA Finals for the first the game," Murray said. more aggressively Thursday Rockets. He made two
high-difficulty baskets. time in a decade. Davis "We've just got to be bet- after the Lakers played starts in the regular season.
"I knew it was winning time said he expects to be fine ter." from behind much of the ... Caldwell-Pope scored 13
and Jamal had it going," for it after rolling his ankle in The Lakers have 16 champi- last game. points and Rondo had 11.
James said. the fourth quarter. onships, one behind Boston With an array of short jump- Nuggets: Jerami Grant
James added nine re- The Nuggets will be facing for the most in NBA history, ers, Davis made his first six scored 17 points and Porter
bounds and eight assists, elimination for the seventh but they haven't played shots before anyone else had 13.
and the Lakers had 12 of- time in the bubble. They for one since winning their on the Lakers made a bas- THOUGHTS FOR TAYLOR
fensive rebounds for a were down 3-1 against most recent title in 2010. ket. Then Howard scored James had the words "We
whopping 25-6 advantage Utah in the first round and The Lakers started Dwight on consecutive follow shots want justice" written next to
in second-chance points. climbed out of the same Howard at center and he before James followed with Breonna Taylor's name on
"This is the Western Confer- hole against the Los An- had 12 points and 11 re- his first two field goals. his sneaker. Lakers coach
ence finals, Game 4. If you geles Clippers in the West bounds, helping put Nikola Murray kept the Lakers from Frank Vogel said the news
can't help us on the de- semifinals. Jokic into foul trouble. getting too far away with a a day earlier that a Ken-
fensive end, maybe you But they couldn't come Murray had 32 points and 7-for-8 start. tucky grand jury brought
shouldn't be on the floor," back in this game, get- eight assists, but Jokic fin- He followed his acrobatic no charges against Lou-
Denver coach Michael ting within one point in ished with just 16 points and layup around James with isville police for the Black
Malone said. "We have to the opening minute of the seven rebounds. 2 1/2 minutes remaining in woman's shooting death hit
be able to lock in, finish fourth quarter but con- Davis scored 27 points in the half with a pair of free the players hard.q

Thomas returns from shoulder injury to lead Sun past Aces

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Alyssa Thomas, had three players with double-doubles in
knocked out of Game 2 two days ago by points and rebounds. Bonner moved up
a dislocated shoulder, made a surprise to 12th in career playoff points, passing
start and led the Connecticut Sun to a Taj McWilliams-Franklin. A'ja Wilson led the
77-68 victory over the Las Vegas Aces on Aces with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and
Thursday night for a 2-1 lead in the best-of- Angel McCoughtry added 16 points.
five semifinal series. The Sun will try to wrap up the series Sun-
Thomas scored 23 points on 10-of-21 shoot- day.
ing and had 12 rebounds. She pushed the STORM 89, LYNX 79
Sun to victory in the closing minutes, scor- Jewell Loyd scored 20 points and Seattle
ing eight points in the final three minutes, beat Minnesota to take a 2-0 lead in the
the last basket coming after a steal with best-of-five series.
45 seconds remaining for a seven-point Loyd had 10 points in a 12-0 run to end the
edge.Thomas was injured midway through first half, including consecutive 3-point-
the first quarter Tuesday night in a loss and ers, for a 46-33 lead and the Storm led the
was listed as out before her status was rest of the way, fending off multiple Lynx Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (25) knocks the ball
changed to questionable Thursday. charges. away from Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) during the
Brionna Jones had 15 points and 10 re- The second-seeded Storm beat No. 4 second half of Game 3 of a WNBA basketball semifinal round
bounds, and DeWanna Bonner 12 points Minnesota in the series opener on Alysha playoff series Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in Bradenton, Fla.
and 10 boards for the Sun. It's the first Clark's last-second putback. They have a Associated Press
time in league postseason history a team chance to sweep the series Sunday.q