According to ESPN. LOS ANGELES — With the Lakers’ defense scrambling midway through the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, Bruce Brown caught a swing pass from Michael Porter Jr. in the right corner and swished an uncontested 3-pointer.
As he turned to run backward, Brown hit the “Freeze” celebration -— a gesture that unified the Lakers’ locker room during their improbable second-half rally — toward Los Angeles’ bench.
The deflating sequence signified how this Western Conference finals series has played out: Denver being one step ahead, Los Angeles desperately trying to solve an unsolvable problem, and, ultimately, the Nuggets making a timely shot seemingly on command.
“That was the game,” LeBron James said of Brown’s basket.
That was also likely the series — and the Lakers’ 2022-23 season.