On Monday night at Ball Arena, the Denver Nuggets stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 101-99 to grab a commanding 2-0 series lead thanks to a buzzer-beater by Jamal Murray.

It could have been the altitude.

On Monday night at Ball Arena, Jamal Murray hit a buzzer-beater as the Denver Nuggets stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 101-99 to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. The Nuggets had come back from a 20-point hole.

For the majority of the contest, the Lakers held a 20-point advantage early in the third quarter. However, the reigning champions rose above the mat and battled back to trim the margin to 10 points going into the fourth quarter, as they always do.

With just over a minute left in the game, the Nuggets knotted it thanks to a play by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic.

LeBron James missed a three-point shot with 16 seconds left, which gave Murray the opportunity to finish the comeback. Both teams then alternated baskets.

With 32 points and 11 rebounds in the game, Anthony Davis led the Lakers. After learning earlier in the day that he had not been chosen as a finalist for the NBA’s prestigious Defensive Player of the Year Award this season, he played the entire night with a chip on his shoulder. At the beginning of the game, Davis made 14 of 15 field goals.

Even though Davis had a great game, Nikola Jokic—the two-time MVP—overshadowed him. “The Joker” recorded a triple-double in the end, tallying 10 assists, 20 rebounds, and 27 points. Murray scored twenty points, but his buzzer-beater was the biggest.

In contrast to Game 1, the Lakers received assistance from their supporting cast in Game 2.

Despite breaking the Lakers’ single-season record for three-pointers this season, D’Angelo Russell had a rough day in day 1 on Saturday, going only 1 for 9 from outside the arc.

In Game 2, Russell was on fire from the start. He finished with 23 points after starting the game 6-for-6 from long range.

Like the Saturday opening, Game 2 got off to a similar start. The Lakers jumped out to a double-digit lead very quickly. Early in the third quarter, they increased their lead to 20 points, but the champions responded to the bell with a comeback.

Midway through the third quarter, Denver went on an 11-0 run to reduce the deficit to single digits.

With six minutes left in the fourth quarter, they had cut the advantage to just two points, but LeBron scored back-to-back three-pointers to halt the bleeding.

The Lakers were outscored 54-38 in the paint and lost the rebounding battle 51-43 for the second straight game.

Since Denver swept the Lakers in four games during the Western Conference Finals in May of last year, the Lakers have dropped six straight postseason games and 10 straight games against the Nuggets.

Now that the series has moved to Hollywood, it seems like a thrilling and intense match between two great teams, but the Nuggets, who own the Lakers, have the mental edge.

It begs the issue of whether LeBron and the Lake Show are wondering on the plane ride back whether they will ever be able to defeat this squad in its current configuration.

While Denver must deal with Davis and James, the Lakers must continue to find ways to minimize Jokic. After each player spent more than 40 minutes in altitude during the first two games of the series, the solution might be to wage an attrition war against the dynamic combo.

In the meanwhile, the Lakers must contain and smother the Nuggets starting five in order to jeopardize Denver’s title defense. They also need to be able to withstand the physical strain of playing a full seven games against a superior opponent.

The series’ third game begins at 7:00 PM PT on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.