The Lakers duo combined for 60 points as LA took a 3-1 series lead.

LeBron’s 26 pts 8 ast and 9 rebs and Anthony’s 34 pts 3 ast 5 rebs and 3 steals led the Los Angeles Lakers to a huge game 5 victory. The Lakers played well overall as they received valuable production from their role players all game. Dwight Howard was a huge difference-maker as he made crucial big energy plays from the very start of the game as he had a double-double with 12 points 11 rebounds as well as a steal. He was very deserving of his start in game 4 as Frank Vogel after the game went as far as to say Dwight’s energy was infectious to the rest of the team

Rajon Rondo was the Lakers secret weapon coming into the bubble and in Game 4 he proved that. Many believed the Lakers were in trouble at the start of the NBA bubble season because Rondo had a broken thumb and had not been performing well in the regular season when he was healthy. Additionally, Avery Bradley who was one of the LA Lakers starting guards all season would not be participating in the NBA bubble because he needed to care for his ill six-year-old son. During this bubble season, the veteran guard was focused on using his platform to push for racial equality.

Rajon Rondo had his surgery, rehabbed, and made It back in time for the playoffs. To the surprise of many Rondo has played phenomenally in the western conference finals. In-game 4 Rondo played a total of 22 minutes and made the most of it as he scored 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting had 7 assists and 5 rebounds and uncharacteristically made one three-pointer, not to mention he played lockdown defense.

The Lakers two stars led the way as they played great down the stretch and made winning plays in the fourth qtr. In this game similar to the rest of this series Anthony Davis was nothing short of spectacular as the nuggets simply could not contain him. He was attacking the rim, hitting off-balance fadeaways, and making floaters. Lebron James was not having his best shooting day as he only shot 38% from the field. But he made up for it by being aggressive, getting all his teammates involved, rebounding, and making 11 of 14 free throws. Lebron additionally had a strong defensive presence, particularly in the fourth quarter. When he took it upon himself to guard the opposing team’s best scorer Jamal Murray plus Lebron held Denver to 0-6 shooting as the closest defender in the 4th quarter.

The Lakers are one win away from their first NBA finals appearance since Kobe Bryant lead them to a finals victory in 2010. The Denver Nuggets are now down 3-1 to the Lakers and are in an unsought position that they are more than familiar with. In all of the Denver Nuggets playoff series this season, they have gone down 3-1 and have heroically found a way to be victorious both times. First against the Jazz as Donovan Mitchell was having a Dwyane Wade esque performance. Then they went down 3-1 against the Los Angeles Clippers who many believed would win it all this year because many thought Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are the best wing duo since Jordan and Pippen. But when Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray's backs were against the wall they rose to the occasion and won three games straight and advanced to the western conference finals.

Now the question must be asked will the Nuggets overcome another 3-1 deficit and go to the NBA finals because oddly enough the nuggets seem most comfortable where most teams would be very uncomfortable. But let’s not forget Lebron knows a little something about coming back from 3-1 himself and I expect him and the Lakers in game 5 to come out with the same desperation as the Nuggets. Will Lebron and the Lakers close out the series on Saturday night? Or will the relentless Nuggets upset yet another team and unexpectedly go to the NBA finals?

--Matthew Robi