The Los Angeles Lakers won their first game against the Denver Nuggets in 498 days, dating back to December 16, 2022.

On Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets 119-108 in Game 4 of their first-round series, avoiding a sweep and postseason elimination.

This was the Lakers’ first victory over the Nuggets in 498 days, with their last win coming on December 16, 2022. The memories of being swept out of the Western Conference finals by Denver last season lent weight to the victory.

“It’s a beautiful thing to finally get a win against this team,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham remarked. “Now that we’ve finally quote-on-quote ‘cracked the code,’ we still have to understand that this is a championship ball club we’re facing.”

LeBron James lead the charge with 30 points, while Anthony Davis added 25 points and 23 rebounds.

Despite Nikola Jokic’s excellent effort of 33 points, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists, his 18th career triple-double and second in this series, the Nuggets were unable to reclaim their usual late-game domination over the Lakers.

“We just tried to get one game and go from there,” Davis explained before Game 4. “We know we’ve lost 11 consecutive. We cannot concentrate on that.”

The series now travels to Denver, where Game 5 will take place on Monday at the Ball Arena.

“It’s a one-game series for us,” James said. “So Monday’s game is the most significant for us this season. We understand what’s at stake. “If we lose, we go home.”