Lakers snap losing streak, earn Game 4 win behind LeBron James, Anthony Davis

At last, the Lakers snapped their losing streak to the Nuggets, capturing Game 4 to avoid a sweep behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

At last, the Lakers finally snapped their losing streak to the Nuggets, earning a 119-108 win to avoid being swept. The victory ended the purple and gold's 11-game losing streak against Denver.

The big three of Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves took charge offensively to help LA stick to their usual script of leading in the first half.

Anthony Davis dominated with 25 points, 22 rebounds and six assists. LeBron James added 30 points with five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Austin Reaves had one of his stronger games this series with 21 points and six assists.

D’Angelo Russell was able to bounce back from his zero-point Game 3 by scoring 21 points along with four assists and four rebounds.

In what has become the most predictable aspect of this series, the Lakers started with great offense and gained an early lead. LA captured a seven-point lead thanks to the big three of AD, LeBron, and Austin, who each came out strong. The Nuggets were able to cut it to as close as four but, as expected, the Lakers were up at the end of the first, 28-23.

A Jamal Murray turnover and a LeBron midrange shot started the second quarter. Both teams were struggling offensively, but a welcomed sight was D’Angelo Russell making a 3-pointer. The Nuggets cut the deficit to three before LeBron nailed a layup to extend it to five.

Midway through the quarter, the Lakers held onto an 11-point lead after Austin's personal 7-0 run, which included a nice layup. Michael Porter Jr. drilled a 3-pointer in response to trim the deficit to eight.

AD, on the verge of another double-double, answered back with an and-1. The purple and gold stuck to the script and went into halftime with a double-digit lead of 13.

The Nuggets struck first in the second half with a midrange shot by Murray. Rui Hachimura started the offense for LA with a cut to the basket for an easy layup and knocked down a midrange shot. The Lakers had more energy than they’ve shown all series in each third quarter. LeBron even had a signature chase-down block on Murray.

At the first timeout, the Lakers' lead was 15 points. Things seemed to be trending in the right direction for them, but it was still too soon to get excited. The Nuggets did begin making their shots and trying to mount their usual supercharged comeback.

D’Lo answered with another 3-pointer to stop the momentum Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets were gaining by making threes. The Nuggets cut the deficit to 10 after a dunk by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. With 3:35 left in the third, the usual comeback was mounting and Denver cut the deficit to seven on an MPJ dunk.

The Lakers bench was starting to answer the call with Gabe Vincent making a three and Tauren Prince knocking down one as well, which resulted in LA’s lead extending to 12. Despite the Nuggets’ efforts, the Lakers kept the lead by 11 at the end of the quarter.

Both teams started the final quarter cold with sloppy play and turnovers. LeBron was the first to score with a layup to extend their lead to 15. The Nuggets looked like the team that was fatigued for the first time.

But it didn’t last long, as they cut the lead to 11 with four straight points. The Lakers were doing a much better job of not only keeping the lead but also making sure whatever run the Nuggets put together didn’t last long.

With seven minutes left and the lead, it was still not safe and LA had to keep their feet on the gas pedal to prevent the Nuggets from summoning magical powers to take them down. AD was having another masterful game, putting up 20/20.

The purple and gold extended their lead to 19 after another D’Lo three. And the momentum was completely in favor of LA in this quarter for the first time all series. But the lead did go down to 13 after six straight points by the Nuggets.

At the three-minute mark, LA’s lead was just 11, but LeBron stole the ball from Murray for a dunk. The Nuggets were trying to mount a comeback that only they could complete and the lead was down to eight.

LeBron took over the last few minutes and would not let the Lakers ruin what the win. Jokic didn’t necessarily have the best fourth quarter but was doing his best to keep the Nuggets within striking distance to steal the win.

Not only was LeBron taking over, but Austin continued his great play and knocked down two clutch free throws for LA to keep a bigger lead. Austin once again nailed free throws and put the icing on the cake. The Nuggets couldn’t mount the comeback they wanted, missing shots and having turnovers.

At long last, the script was finally reworked and the Lakers beat the bane of their existence.

Key Takeaways:

The Lakers beat the Nuggets. They finally did. Sound the alarms! Buy some lottery tickets! Drink some Lobos! No sweep!

Thank you to Austin and D’Lo for showing up and making the right plays and timely shots.

The Lakers’ next game will be Game 5 on Monday against the Denver Nuggets at 7:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.