The Denver Nuggets won Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night.

Denver, which is yet to lose at home this postseason, won a game it led by double digits in the first quarter but struggled to close in the end. The Lakers did not win a Game 1 for the first time this postseason.

Lakers forward Anthony Davis led his team with a dominant 40-point performance on 14-of-23 shooting. But his effort was not enough to best Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who had 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists in the win.

Davis could only watch Jokic in awe when he hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a 106-92 lead through three quarters.

After the three, Jokic turned to Davis and shrugged. Davis did the same in disbelief.

Tuesday's game showed Jokic and Davis will be battling throughout this series. They are the two best bigs left in the postseason and show with their offensive prowess who important they are for their respective teams.

The Nuggets were in control for most of Tuesday's Game 1, leading by as many as 21 points in the third quarter. But the Lakers came back and made the fourth quarter interesting.

Los Angeles went on a 9-0 run to cut Denver's lead to three with 3:23 left after a deep 3-pointer from Austin Reaves. The Lakers' guard made another 3-pointer to cut Los Angeles' deficit to 127-124 with 2:18 left.

LeBron James missed a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left that would have tied the game. He had a turnover with 18 seconds left and then missed another three with nine seconds left.

The Lakers and Nuggets will play Game 2 Thursday at 5:30 p.m. It will be televised by ESPN.