The LA Lakers are in the NBA Finals following their win in Game 5 of the West Finals over the Denver Nuggets, 117-107.
After 10 years, the purple and gold are one step away from the title. Meanwhile, LeBron James advanced to his 10th NBA Finals.
Like in the previous games, we saw a pretty controversial officiating that heavily damaged the Nuggets, causing many negative reactions from Denver’s players and on social networks.
Nikola Jokic played just eight minutes in the first half due to three early fouls, and that no doubt decided a lot of things. During his stay on the court, the Nuggets scored three points more than the rivals, but while he had to sit on the bench, the Lakers were up 10.
Millsap’s fouls, goaltending blocks, several missed calls for LeBron’s and AD’s charges, all this and a couple of more situations were dubious in tonight’s matchup.
The Lakers had the lead throughout the majority of the time, mostly a double-digit, but the Nuggets came back at the start of the fourth. They wouldn’t have the power to make another big surprise, and the LAL rebuffed that surge.
James was the most dominant figure on the court with his 27th playoff triple-double with 38 points, 16 boards, and 10 assists. He was unstoppable in the offense, carrying his team from the start until the end, not having a worthy opponent on the other side.
Davis was the support in tonight’s match with 27 points, five boards, and three assists. AD and Bron had 17 free throws combined, while on the other side, Jokic and Murray had 6.
[embed]https://twitter.com/JoelRushNBA/status/1310048634033954818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]Jokic played just 30 minutes, scoring 20 points, seven boards and five assists, with one free throw during that time, which is why many accuse the officials of helping the Lakers. Jerami Grant once again played well with 20 buckets, and nine boards, in team-high 46 minutes.
Jamal Murray struggled with his foot problems but managed to score 19 points, 7-for-17 from the field, and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Paul Millsap had 13 points and four boards, while Michael Porter Jr and Monte Morris scored 10 off the bench each.
The Lakers are now in the finals, but there is a huge shadow over their success because of the officiating. The social networks are flooded with footages that show all the bad calls that went in their favor.
What do you think about all this? Did the referees help the purple and gold eliminate the Nuggets or no?