As Nuggets and Lakers alike returned to the floor and began to take shots, the anxiety in the sea-level air was not one of unfinished business, but rather of un-started.

The Lakers lead 53-49, but Game 3 hadn’t really begun yet. Every player, coach, and spectator at Crypto.com Arena recognized the reality: the second half of the series is the battleground.

And within two minutes of this struggle, it didn’t matter that Denver had trailed the entire first half, because Denver was back in ahead, in command, and in control of this Sisyphean loop from which the Lakers can never break free. The Nuggets overcame a double-digit deficit for the third time in as many games on Thursday night, winning 112-105 to grab a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

“I guess there goes the pregame speech about winning the first quarter and being up at halftime,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “So let’s continue to let them outplay us in the first half and settle into the game.”

The Nuggets have won 11 straight games versus the Lakers. They’ve trailed by 10 or more points in six of their victories.

Four of Denver’s starters scored 20 or more points, nullifying Anthony Davis’s 33-point performance. Jokic recorded 24 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists. Jamal Murray tallied 22 points and nine assists.

And in his 43rd career playoff game, Aaron Gordon was at his best, relying on physicality and fierce will to keep Denver alive in the first half. He finished with 29 points (a playoff career high), 15 rebounds, and three assists, including a nice no-look pass to Jokic in transition that prompted a Darvin Ham timeout. It cut the Nuggets’ second-quarter deficit to four, their closest margin since going behind 8-0 in the game’s first two minutes.

It was little more than the Lakers’ regular season head start. Six of the eight points came on fast breaks, and all of them were in the paint, which were Michael Malone’s two major concerns and areas of attention. Malone used a quick timeout. Jokic received two quick fouls. Murray was back to his pre-buzzer beater form. Open 3-pointers were still problematic. The Nuggets began the night 2 for 14.

“Neither team could make a shot,” Malone explained.

However, their remarkable capacity to persist in the face of adversity won out. Gordon tipped in a Jokic miss before the halftime buzzer to pull within four, and the first two minutes after the break were exponentially more critical. Murray sprinted out in transition, and Jokic’s long outlet pass resulted in a game-tying layup. Michael Porter Jr.’s 3-pointer on the next possession gave Denver their first lead, 58-55.

It was Ham’s turn to call an early timeout as a sense of déjà vu set in. Nothing worked. By the end of the frame, the Nuggets had built up a double-digit lead.

Porter remained a consistent force for his club during an inconsistent series. He scored half of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, capitalizing on the Lakers’ three-guard lineup and even making a “too small” gesture after a jump jumper. He also found Gordon twice in the dunker position for assists.

Porter’s 3-point percentage in three games is 47.8%, with more than seven attempts per game. The remaining Nuggets are a combined 17 for 81 (21%).

“I have the utmost confidence that we’ll start to make those (wide open) shots,” Malone said before the game, repeating his typical theme that the Nuggets are only concerned with the quality of their tries.

Denver began the game with standard matches rather than the cross-matching that changed the tide 72 hours prior in Game 2. However, when the Lakers got Jokic in early foul trouble, Malone switched his defense into a variety of looks, including one with Jokic on Rui Hachimura, Gordon on Davis, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on James.

“When Nikola gets in foul trouble, I’m sure everybody thinks I’m gonna take him out,” Malone went on to say. “We can’t afford to take Nikola out. So we changed up the pairings. And we got him on anyone other than Anthony Davis. And then we went zone to keep him out of foul trouble rather than getting him his third. So being down four and Nikola not receiving his third foul in the first half were two significant victories.”