NBA highlights on April 20: Lakers' policy against Nuggets fails

The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 114-103 in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, leading 1-0 in the series.

Like what they did to the Golden State Warriors last season in the playoffs, the purple and gold tried to steal Game 1 on the road to secure advantage for the whole series. That's why they implemented the defensive policy of having Rui Hachimura guard Nikola Jokic. This way, Anthony Davis avoided tussling with Jokic which would have drained his strength quickly and instead stayed ready to provide help defense. Moreover, whenever Jokic tried to make a move in the high post, a defender from the weak side immediately went in to double-team him.

Coach Michael Malone didn't make any special plans for the Nuggets in Saturday's game. They just stuck to their usual style of playing. If Jokic was double-teamed, he could still find open teammates mostly outside the 3-point line. Jamal Murray didn't pick his target to attack in the opponents' perimeter defenders because most of them couldn't stop him one-on-one. Jokic was still sent to guard Davis and intended to drop back when Davis set screens for other Lakers.

The Nuggets struggled to make shots, especially from downtown, most time in the first half on Saturday night. They made only six of their 23 triples in the first two periods. Many of the rebounds resulted by these bricks were turned into easy buckets by the Lakers in fast break. LeBron James delivered five assists in the first quarter and knocked down three 3-pointers in the first half to score 19 points. Davis made good use of Jokic's break time and attacked DeAndre Jordan constantly to get 18 points in the first two periods. Their side led by as many as 12 points (49-37) in the first half.

However, the Laker's advantage was built on overloading 39-year-old James and injury-prone Davis. James rested less than two minutes and Davis played nearly 20 minutes in the first two quarters. Furthermore, the Nuggets missed a lot of shots because of their poor shooting touch, not the opponents' defense. Their offensive rate during the regular season was 118.5, the 5th-best among all 30 teams. In fact, the home team outscored the Lakers 20-11 in the final six minutes of the second period to cut their deficit to no more than three points.

The Nuggets' rally in the second half started with making six triples out of 11 attempts in the third period. Four of them were on the hands of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Meanwhile, Jokic began to attack Hachimura in the low post and did it much more quickly to leave time for the opponents' double-teaming or Davis' help defense. He made four of his five shots below the free throw line, forcing Davis to guard him. This switch set Aaron Gordon free who dominated the offensive glass. He and Jokic enabled their side to lead 15-6 in offensive rebounds.

By contrast, the Lakers struggled to score points in the second half. James only took seven shots in the final two quarters and made three of them to get eight points. He had three assists but with four turnovers. Davis contributed 14 points, but he couldn't carry the team's offense by himself, especially when he had to spend of a lot of energy guarding Jokic. Though the purple and gold led 11-0 in free throw attempts in the second half, they trailed 57-43 in points.

If one had to be picked out as the worst-performing player for Saturday's game, it must be D'Angelo Russell who missed 14 of his 20 field goals (FGs), including going 1-for-9 outside the 3-point line. While he kept wasting offensive opportunities, he also became an easy target for Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. to exploit over and over for points.

Game 2 of the series will happen at Ball Arena again on April 22.

Other games on Saturday (away teams come first):

Orlando Magic 83-97 Cleveland Cavaliers

The two teams combined to miss 103 of their 167 shots in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoffs at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. That's why neither reached even 100 points, which is rare in today's league. Cavaliers went 5-for-10 behind the arc in the first period to score 33 points and sat on a safe lead that continued in the rest of the game to 20 points (78-58) at most in the fourth period.

The Cavaliers' low offensive efficiency was a result of mainly the underperformance by their bench players. Three of their five starters, Even Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland all shot higher than 50 percent from the field. Donovan Mitchell was a bit lower than 50 percent in FGs, but he dropped court-high 33 points for the Cavaliers to win.

Game 2 of the series will still take place at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on April 22.

Phoenix Suns 95-120 Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves began the West's first-round playoffs against the Suns with a victory at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, thanks to a smart change of defensive rotations made by coach Chris Finch. He had Karl-Anthony Towns guard Kevin Durant, saving Anthony Edwards for Bradley Beal. Meanwhile, Jaden McDaniels was responsible for containing Devin Booker.

Though Towns' poor defense enabled Durant to get 31 points after shooting 11-for-17 from the field, he made Durant sweat in isolation for every bucket. More importantly, Edwards limited Beal's offensive role to a much smaller level compared with what Beal used to play by dominating Mike Conley. As McDaniels gave Booker a hard time as well, the Timberwolves made the Suns' offense very one-note that relied heavily on isolation of stars instead of attacking with brilliant ball movement that involved everyone.

Edwards not only made a difference for the Timberwolves on the defensive end, he also was the best-performing one of his side on offense. He scored court-high 33 points, including 18 in the third quarter. Thanks to his efforts, the home team began the final period with a 20-point lead (92-72). It didn't take the Suns long to throw in the white towel in the fourth quarter.

Game 2 of the series will continue to happen at the Target Center on April 23.

Philadelphia 76ers 104-111 New York Knicks

The 76ers had a great start in Game 1 of the East's first-round playoffs against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday. Their ace Joel Embiid shot 5-for-9 in FGs in the first period to score 15 points, helping his side lead 34-25. Nonetheless, their advantage was soon blown away during his break time early in the second quarter. Embiid came back and finished an off-the-glass self-alley-oop dunk, but injured his left knee. After he exited the game and headed back to the locker room. The 76ers suffered a 9-0 run and trailed by 12 points (58-46) in the first half.

Though Embiid returned to play in the second half, he didn't move as freely as he used to. He missed nine of his 11 shots in the second half, including all five of them in the fourth quarter. Tyrese Maxey spared no efforts to contribute 21 points in these two periods, but the deficit left from the first half was too big to overcome.

The Knicks had three players, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Miles McBride score over 20 points. Moreover, the team grabbed as many as 23 offensive rebounds, 14 more than the 76ers. Mitchell Robinson led on this front with seven and he did a remarkable job of shutting down Embiid in the fourth period.

Game 2 of the series will happen at Madison Square Garden again on April 22.