Following Thursday night's 114-108 Game 4 victory over the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers are now just one victory away from returning to the NBA Finals. As a result, the Nuggets are facing yet another 3-1 deficit.

In this piece, we'll highlight six takeaways from the hard-fought battle.

Starting Superman

It came as a bit of a surprise to learn that Lakers head coach Frank Vogel would start Dwight Howard at center for Game 4. Still, the decision paid off. The former No. 1 overall pick hadn't started in 10 postseason appearances, but that didn't stop him from making a difference.

In 23 minutes of action, Howard racked up 12 points and 11 rebounds. Maybe more importantly, he led Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic into foul trouble early on. And with Howard playing him closely on the defensive end of the floor, The Joker was held to 16 points and seven rebounds.

Playoff Rondo

Like Howard, Rajon Rondo proved to be a difference-maker for the Lakers in Game 4. Alongside Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rondo helped push the Lakers' lead to 11 with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Be it through scoring or dishing the rock, Rondo left his imprint all over the second half. As part of his flurry of production, he moved into the 8th spot on the NBA's all-time playoff assist list, passing Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen.

In his 22 minutes of action off the bench, Rondo racked up 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field (1-of-1 from beyond the arc), seven assists and five rebounds.

The King's call

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has been a problem for every team he's faced in the postseason. He's had several games with 30 or more points, and some with 40. Game 4 wasn't much different, as the former Kentucky Wildcats standout made a myriad of difficult shots to keep his team close.

Knowing the threat at hand, Lakers superstar LeBron James decided that he should be the one to guard Murray down the stretch of the fourth quarter. This was another decision that paid off, as Murray was forced into some late misses with The King as his shadow.

“I knew it was winning time and Jamal had it going,” James said after posting 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, via ESPN.

Davis shines

Anthony Davis is proving to be one of the greatest teammates that LeBron James has ever known (no disrespect to Dyane Wade or Kyrie Irving).

Davis scored 27 points in Game 3, but the seven-time All-Star acknowledged that his two-rebound performance was “unacceptable.” He came out with a lot more intensity in Game 4, making his first six shots before anyone else on his team made a bucket.

In 41 minutes of playing time, The Brow posted 34 points on 10-of-15 shooting (1-of-3 from downtown), five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Related NewsArticle continues below
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) controls the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half in game five of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena.
Lakers’ LeBron James drops ‘low key crazy’ admission on All-NBA nod
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) in the first half Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
LeBron James extends historic streak with 2024-25 All-NBA announcement

Lakers fans around the globe held their breathe in the fourth quarter of Game 4, as Davis went down with an injury. He appeared to roll his ankle while coming down from a shot, but he powered through the pain to stay on the court.

Though his gate was clearly compromised after the injury, Davis noted that he should be good to go for Game 5:

“(We’ve) got tonight, tomorrow, before the game to get it back to, I don’t want to say back to where it was, but good enough to play,” Davis said, via silverscreenandroll.com. “Rolled it pretty bad, but not too bad. I’ll be fine.”

Gimme a second chance

The Lakers have struggled on the glass in recent games. In fact, Denver outrebounded Los Angeles in Game 3 by a count of 44 to 25. However, with Howard starting at center and an improved outing from Davis, Game 4 was a different story.

As previously mentioned, Davis finished Game 3 with just two rebounds, which he said was “unacceptable.” It was his lowest mark in that category of the postseason. In Thursday night's matchup, however, The Brow brought down five boards.

Along with Howard's effort in the paint, Davis and the Lakers scored 25 second chance points in Game 4. According to ESPN Stats & Info, it was the third-highest mark by any team in this postseason. Making things a bit worse for Denver was the fact that Los Angeles also had 12 offensive rebounds to their six.

A disparity in charity

Game 3 saw the Lakers shooting 22 free-throws to Denver's 29. According to several reports, the Lakers wrote a letter to the league to express their displeasure with the lack of calls going their way in this series. Whether this letter had any sway or not, the Lakers took 35 shots at the charity stripe in Game 4. Meanwhile, Denver took 23.

Game 5 between the Lakers and Nuggets is set to tip at 9:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, with TNT having live broadcast coverage.

Will the Lakers advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in 10 years, or will the Nuggets once again stave off elimination?