Watch: Wild scramble leads to Aaron Gordon alley-oop
For one half of Game 1, the Lakers couldn't get a rebound. They lost one at a crucial moment in the fourth quarter and got burned with a dunk.
Down three points, LeBron James missed a shot in the lane. Then, four different Nuggets and two different Lakers touched the ball in a wild struggle for the ball. Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic battled for the ball, Jamal Murray tapped it, then Michael Porter Jr. and Rui Hachimura struggled on the ground. Davis jumped on Porter, and eventually Kentavious Caldwell-Pope came away with the ball.
That started a fast break that ended with Aaron Gordon throwing down a dunk, only his ninth points of the game. That gave the Nuggets a lead they wouldn't relinquish as the game ended, 132-126.
Los Angeles had one more chance late, but Jokic came up with a clutch steal on James, aided by a well-timed poke at the ball by Murray, who was playing with five fouls.
The Lakers came back from a 21-point deficit in the second half, but could never get closer than three points down the stretch. In a game where they were outrebounded, 47-30, it was one particular board that made all the difference.
More must-reads: