Davis converted on only four of 15 shots from the field to get to his 18 points, despite being single covered by Jokić for most of the night. James finished with 22 points while missing all six of his shots from beyond the arc. In the fourth, he settled for three iffy threes and clanked all of them. LeBron, looking like he switched his pregame powder toss for olive oil, let three attempts at the rim during the game seemingly slip out of his fingertips. Meanwhile, both James and Davis struggled. Murray, after struggling for three quarters, turned into a new state of matter in the last 12 minutes, ultimately finishing with 37 points after hitting eight of his last 11 shots. Jokić had a meager game by his standards Thursday and still recorded a triple double, racking up 23, 17 and 12. Through two games in this series, Jokić and Murray are averaging 62.5 points, 26.5 rebounds and 18.0 assists. Through two games, Rohan Nadkarni writes, the main difference in the series is that the two-man game of Murray and Jokić is surpassing that of LeBron James and Anthony Davis: Jokić didn’t score in the fourth, but he did assist on three three-pointers during the period and was his usual excellent self over the first three quarters. He hit six of his seven field goal attempts (4-of-5 from three) and went 7-of-8 from the line. Through three quarters he was a mediocre 5-for-17 shooting, including 2-for-9 from three. Just like Jayson Tatum in Game 6 against the Sixers, Murray struggled over the first three quarters before coming alive over the final 12 minutes. Murray nearly outscored the Lakers by himself in the fourth quarter, dropping 23 points (to the Lakers’ 24) as the Nuggets came from behind to win, 108–103, and take a 2–0 lead in the series.

If I told you before last night’s Game 2 that the Nuggets would trail the Lakers by three points after the third quarter and that Nikola Jokić would be held scoreless in the fourth, you’d be fair in assuming that Denver would lose the game. If you're reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at SI.com/newsletters. 🎭 When Carl Weathers worked for John Madden

If not for the NBA playoffs, I would have written an entire newsletter about Tom Kim’s mud bath.

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