Los Angeles: The LA Lakers head coach Frank Vogel praised Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Dwight Howard as they are just one step away from making it to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010 after going 3-1 up in the Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against Denver Nuggets late Thursday. Anthony Davis (34) and LeBron James (26) starred for the Lakers as they beat Nuggets 114-108.
“The way he (Anthony Davis) started the game was off the charts, his shot-making was ridiculous, and he’s just energy all over the floor, whether it’s defending, rebounding, he was terrific tonight. Dwight Howard brings energy as well; he fits what we want to embody in terms that a team that plays harder than our opponents every night.”
Vogel added that the Lakers still have a lot of work to do to win the series and considered Nuggets are a tough team. “LeBron James did a great job down the stretch, it’s tough to contain him one on one. We want to play effort offense, run on the floor, driving hard to the paint and our guys did a good job with that. Our team’s commitment was far better than it was in the last game. The Nuggets are extremely difficult to play against. So we have a lot of respect for this team and we know that we have a lot of work to do to finish this series,” said Vogel.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone singled out the 25 second-chance points scored by the Lakers as the reason for Nuggets’ loss.
“It was a huge number and it was like that the whole night. I thought Dwight Howard had a tremendous impact on the game. We had good possessions of defense, but we were just unwilling to finish it off with a rebound. We did a poor job tonight, they were more physical and more aggressive,” said the head coach.
When asked whether he is worried about Jamal Murray being fatigued because of too much of game time, Malone said that Murray’s efficiency is off the charts.
“We are a very tough resilient group. Jamal is one of the best athletes I have been around. He lives for the moment, 32 points, 8 assists in this game, so I would be concerned if his efficiency wasn’t where it needed to be. His efficiency is off the charts, so we are going to continue to ride him,” said the head coach.
Next Game Schedule:
Sept 26: 6:00 am (IST): Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat
Sept 27: 6:30 am (IST): LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets
