Los Angeles Lakers – Denver Nuggets · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 22 April 2024

LAL99–101DEN

Is it worth watching?

Recommended

It was more exciting than 66% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes
· The win probability swung between the two teams 30 times

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ DEN winsLAL wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when DEN leads and falls when LAL does.

This is how the game was decided.

Nikola Jokić decided it, the Denver Nuggets player with the most points (27, with 20 rebounds and 10 assists; +1 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Peyton Watson's (+11). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Denver Nuggets 101-99 Los Angeles Lakers (April 22, 2024) was hit by Jamal Murray: a jump shot with 0.1 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Denver Nuggets up 101-99. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Denver Nuggets 101-99 Los Angeles Lakers (April 22, 2024) was a 11-0 run by the Los Angeles Lakers between the second quarter and the third quarter, from 51-44 to 62-44. The Denver Nuggets' best was a 10-0 run in the third quarter (from 7:02 to 2:27), from 55-74 to 65-74.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Jamal Murray makes 15-foot two point shot.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Jamal Murray decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 0.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 7 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Murray decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

22 April 2024 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401655082:620; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · LAL

Russell · Davis · Hachimura · James · Reaves

Closing lineup · DEN

Jokic · Gordon · Murray · Porter · Caldwell-Pope

Q1Q2Q3Q4

LAL

D'Angelo Russell

39′ · +4

Anthony Davis

39′ · 0

Rui Hachimura

38′ · -7

LeBron James

38′ · +2

Austin Reaves

33′ · +5

Spencer Dinwiddie

10′ · -9

Taurean Prince

22′ · +2

Gabe Vincent

15′ · -6

Jaxson Hayes

6′ · -1

DEN

Nikola Jokic

41′ · +1

Aaron Gordon

40′ · -4

Jamal Murray

40′ · -2

Michael Porter Jr.

38′ · -4

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

35′ · -4

Peyton Watson

12′ · +11

Reggie Jackson

8′ · +4

Christian Braun

13′ · +6

Justin Holiday

13′ · +2

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. LAL and DEN.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Los Angeles Lakers

Russell, Hachimura, Reaves, Davis, and James played 17.5 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Hachimura, Vincent, Reaves, Davis, and James played 5.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Russell, Prince, Vincent, Hayes, and James played 4.2 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

Denver Nuggets

Murray, Porter, Caldwell-Pope, Gordon, and Jokic played 27.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Murray, Braun, Watson, Holiday, and Gordon played 6.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Porter, Watson, Jackson, Caldwell-Pope, and Jokic played 2.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Los Angeles Lakers

Russell, Prince, Hachimura, Reaves, and Davis played 4.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Russell, Prince, Hachimura, Davis, and Dinwiddie played 3.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Hachimura, Reaves, Davis, Dinwiddie, and James played 2.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Russell, Prince, Reaves, Davis, and James played 2.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 8 points.
Russell, Prince, Hachimura, Vincent, and James played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Russell, Prince, Hayes, Dinwiddie, and James played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Russell, Prince, Vincent, Davis, and Dinwiddie played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Russell, Hachimura, Vincent, Davis, and James played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Prince, Hachimura, Vincent, Reaves, and Davis played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

Denver Nuggets

Porter, Jackson, Caldwell-Pope, Gordon, and Jokic played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Murray, Porter, Braun, Gordon, and Jokic played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Murray, Braun, Watson, Holiday, and Jokic played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Porter, Jackson, Holiday, Caldwell-Pope, and Jokic played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Braun, Watson, Jackson, Holiday, and Jokic played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Murray, Porter, Braun, Holiday, and Jokic played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Jamal Murray covered 4.65 km, more than anyone in the game.

Nikola Jokić touched the ball 122 times, a game high.
Nikola Jokić made 95 passes, a game high.
Anthony Davis defended 7 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 6.
Nikola Jokić had 26 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Los Angeles Lakers

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Rui Hachimura	4.54	6.8	32	23
D'Angelo Russell	4.33	6.3	81	60
Anthony Davis	4.01	5.8	60	36
Austin Reaves	3.91	6.7	51	36
LeBron James	3.70	5.5	81	54
Taurean Prince	2.30	6.0	12	8
Gabe Vincent	1.91	7.0	18	15
Spencer Dinwiddie	1.13	6.3	12	10
Jaxson Hayes	0.79	7.1	9	9

Denver Nuggets

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Jamal Murray	4.65	6.6	97	63
Nikola Jokić	4.47	6.1	122	95
Aaron Gordon	4.42	6.3	45	30
Michael Porter Jr.	4.17	6.2	45	31
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	3.62	5.8	30

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2023-24 regular season, not this game.

Los Angeles Lakers

Anthony Davis contested 11.2 shots per game over his 76 games.
He ranks 5 of 373 in the league.
Austin Reaves recovered 1.0 loose balls per game over his 82 games.
He ranks 11 of 373 in the league.
Taurean Prince drew 0.14 charges per game over his 77 games.
He ranks 27 of 373 in the league.

Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokić deflected 3.0 passes per game over his 79 games.
He ranks 8 of 373 in the league.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope deflected 2.5 passes per game over his 74 games.
He ranks 25 of 373 in the league.
Jamal Murray contested 5.6 shots per game over his 59 games.
He ranks 71 of 373 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Denver Nuggets have won 98 of their 241 games against the Los Angeles Lakers.

98-143record of the Denver Nuggets · NBA 1976-77 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

1-2in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1976-77 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

19.711

101% of capacity

Ball Arena · Denver

Series

Game 2

First round

DEN 4-1

Scoring

200

combined points

11.2 below the season average (211.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

18 calls reviewed1 errors admitted by the NBA

Foul: Defense 3 Second · 01:53.6

Nikola Jokic → Lakers

Jokic (DEN) straddles the lane line and is in the paint for longer than three seconds without imminently actively guarding an opponent.