LOS ANGELES -- Shiny purple and gold streamers fluttered down from the Crypto.com Arena ceiling on Saturday, not only signifying the Los Angeles Lakers' 119-108 win over the Denver Nuggets to stay alive in their first-round series, but also L.A.'s first win over Denver in nearly 500 days.
Snapping an 11-game losing streak against the defending champions was certainly a better alternative than heading into the offseason being swept out of the playoffs by the Nuggets for a second straight year.
However, down 3-1 in the series, the Lakers will still enter Monday's Game 5 on the edge of elimination.