2024 NBA Playoffs: West 1st Round: #2 Denver Nuggets vs #7 Los Angeles Lakers (DEN WINS 4-1)

[Raps in 4]

My money is on another Denver sweep.

[xinxin]

doenst look good for the lakers.

a team that has lost 8 in a row to another team probably has that in their heads that it's a lost cause to go up against that other team.

which is probably why that even though those 8 games have been close, Lakers just cant seem to close. they kinda lose their minds in the last 3 - 5 minutes of the game. which means - the nuggets are in the lakers players minds whether they admit it or not.

I say this recalling how the kobe-shaq lakers were dominating teams back in the day.. at one point, they had like a 17 (?) game win streak against the Mavs.. then in one game the Mavs were up 27 pts. but I guess becuase of that long losing streak, Mavs probably thought, nope.. we're still gonna lose to the lakers.. & they did. Lakers had a historic comeback and beat the Mavs..

if the lakers cant steal a game in Denver then forget it. might not be a sweep but 5 games max.

[B-easy]

Lakers strategy should be to outscore the Nuggets. Go full out offense, double Jokic and hope they miss 3's (nuggets shoot the fewest 3's in the league).

[Me Like Lakers]

Lakers strategy should be to outscore the Nuggets. Go full out offense, double Jokic and hope they miss 3's (nuggets shoot the fewest 3's in the league).

Well, I don't believe there are many coaches out there trying to score less than their opponents when trying to win the game..

[Me Like Lakers]

Lakers strategy should be to outscore the Nuggets. Go full out offense, double Jokic and hope they miss 3's (nuggets shoot the fewest 3's in the league).

Well, I don't believe there are many coaches out there trying to score less than their opponents when trying to win the game..

But I'm just kidding because that phrase was funny, I get what you meant.

[tamaraw08]

bruh if we win two games thats an achievement imo. Just keep it competitive like last year.

They have a chance if DLo doesn’t shoot under 14% from 3 and 4 Nuggets don’t shoot 42% from the same distance.

[shi-woo]

Kind of wanted to see this as the WCF matchup, but we'll see.

Again, people under rating the Lakers. They are healthy, and AD is looking like the best version of himself. Teams are slowly figuring out how to attack Gordon and take him out of the game on offense. Murray still a little banged up, and i'm sure MPJ has a lot on his mind.

I think this goes 6, with the Nuggets taking it but I don't see a sweep here, and would honestly not be surprised if the Lakers found a way to knock them off.

LeBron knows this is his real last shot at a ring, and that if they beat this team in round 1 they are essentially booking a date with Boston in June. I expect him to play like his sons life is on the line this series.

DLo, Reaves, and Rui are all ready, and playing with extreme confidense. Denver is going to need to break that confidense, and can't go back to LA tied 1-1. That just can't happen. Denver needs to make sure they don't fall behind in this series.

[Jta444]

A lot of people here are underrating the Lakers bigtime due to their seeding and record, like they didn’t learn from last year when the Lakers went all the way to WCF as the 7th seed. We all know that Lebron and AD just coast during the regular season. Comparing the supporting cast of Jokic and Lebron:

AD >> Murray
Allstar Dlo > KCP
Olympian Reaves = MPJ
Rui = AG

Nuggets x factor and bench from last year Bruce Brown is now gone, so both teams basically now have weak benches. Nuggets don’t have an advantage there anymore.

I can see this series going 6 or 7, toss-up between the two.

[mademan]

A lot of people here are underrating the Lakers bigtime due to their seeding and record, like they didn’t learn from last year when the Lakers went all the way to WCF as the 7th seed. We all know that Lebron and AD just coast during the regular season. Comparing the supporting cast of Jokic and Lebron:

AD >> Murray
Allstar Dlo > KCP
Olympian Reaves = MPJ
Rui = AG

Nuggets x factor and bench from last year Bruce Brown is now gone, so both teams basically now have weak benches. Nuggets don’t have an advantage there anymore.

I can see this series going 6 or 7, toss-up between the two.

But Jokic>>>>Lebron

[Marrrcuss]

A lot of people here are underrating the Lakers bigtime due to their seeding and record, like they didn’t learn from last year when the Lakers went all the way to WCF as the 7th seed. We all know that Lebron and AD just coast during the regular season. Comparing the supporting cast of Jokic and Lebron:

AD >> Murray
Allstar Dlo > KCP
Olympian Reaves = MPJ
Rui = AG

Nuggets x factor and bench from last year Bruce Brown is now gone, so both teams basically now have weak benches. Nuggets don’t have an advantage there anymore.

I can see this series going 6 or 7, toss-up between the two.

But Jokic>>>>Lebron

Where do i start....Umm, AD is THAT much better than Murray?
Dlo is betterthan KCP? Do yall care about defense at all? You must given your AD/Murray comparison.
Reaves over MPJ and Rui over AG ? Fugg naw, but i know your overall message.

Jokic is in his prime, he should be better than the old guy.

[Jta444]

A lot of people here are underrating the Lakers bigtime due to their seeding and record, like they didn’t learn from last year when the Lakers went all the way to WCF as the 7th seed. We all know that Lebron and AD just coast during the regular season. Comparing the supporting cast of Jokic and Lebron:

AD >> Murray
Allstar Dlo > KCP
Olympian Reaves = MPJ
Rui = AG

Nuggets x factor and bench from last year Bruce Brown is now gone, so both teams basically now have weak benches. Nuggets don’t have an advantage there anymore.

I can see this series going 6 or 7, toss-up between the two.

But Jokic>>>>Lebron

Where do i start....Umm, AD is THAT much better than Murray?
Dlo is betterthan KCP? Do yall care about defense at all? You must given your AD/Murray comparison.
Reaves over MPJ and Rui over AG ? Fugg naw, but i know your overall message.

Jokic is in his prime, he should be better than the old guy.

Where did I say that Reaves is better than MPJ or Rui over AG? That is an “equal” sign you don’t know the meaning of “=“? It means they have equivalent production Reaves and MPJ have similar impact, as well as Rui and AG they cancel each other out talent-wise and production-wise.

And yea Dlo is better than KCP he can create his own shot KCP is only a 3&D guy Dlo is a 1-time allstar. Big difference in talent.

[AbeVigodaLive]

If both teams are healthy, it'll be a competitive series.

James and Davis are very good. And the Lakers' strategy of getting fouled without fouling is really smart.

[Marrrcuss]

But Jokic>>>>Lebron

Where do i start....Umm, AD is THAT much better than Murray?
Dlo is betterthan KCP? Do yall care about defense at all? You must given your AD/Murray comparison.
Reaves over MPJ and Rui over AG ? Fugg naw, but i know your overall message.

Jokic is in his prime, he should be better than the old guy.

Where did I say that Reaves is better than MPJ or Rui over AG? That is an “equal” sign you don’t know the meaning of “=“? It means they have equivalent production Reaves and MPJ have similar impact, as well as Rui and AG they cancel each other out talent-wise and production-wise.

And yea Dlo is better than KCP he can create his own shot KCP is only a 3&D guy Dlo is a 1-time allstar. Big difference in talent.

I just misread it. All that catty condescending crap was too much,

[GeorgeSears]

bruh if we win two games thats an achievement imo. Just keep it competitive like last year.

They have a chance if DLo doesn’t shoot under 14% from 3 and 4 Nuggets don’t shoot 42% from the same distance.

DLo averaged 14 ppg and shot 33% from 3 in 3 games against the Nuggets in the regular season. That was already a significant increase from his WCF production. He's going to need to significantly raise his play to an even greater level.

The reason DLo struggles against the Nuggets is because the Lakers can't stash him on a weaker player. The Nuggets front line is all 6'8 or taller, Murray and KCP are both 6'5. He has to guard Murray which requires an enormous amount of energy expenditure (Murray has averaged 25 ppg, 9asp, 5 rpb on 50%/47% shooting against the Lakers this season). The Lakers can try and put Reaves on Murray, but that means DLo has to chase KCP around screens on the perimeter. The effort he has to put in defensively impacts his offensive production.

[mademan]

Im guessing Rui is gonna start on Jokic again with AD roaming. Its a fine strategy, imo, but the only problem was how hot the Nuggets were last year.

[EmpireFalls]

-7.5 opening line to Denver lol. Yeah this series is gonna be a romp.

[shi-woo]

A lot of people here are underrating the Lakers bigtime due to their seeding and record, like they didn’t learn from last year when the Lakers went all the way to WCF as the 7th seed. We all know that Lebron and AD just coast during the regular season. Comparing the supporting cast of Jokic and Lebron:

AD >> Murray
Allstar Dlo > KCP
Olympian Reaves = MPJ
Rui = AG

Nuggets x factor and bench from last year Bruce Brown is now gone, so both teams basically now have weak benches. Nuggets don’t have an advantage there anymore.

I can see this series going 6 or 7, toss-up between the two.

But Jokic>>>>Lebron

That's what makes this matchup so interesting to me though, LeBron can outplay Jokic for a game or two and that's all this Lakers team needs.

If LeBron goes all out in Game 1 or 2 and they steal one at Denver, everything changes. We all know about the Laker Whistle, and what happens if Davis gets a quick gimme fouls on Jokic? Lakers have a chance to blow that game out of the water.

This is by far the scariest matchup in the entiire playoffs for Denver imo, and if they win it handily, they are a lock to win it all imo, and Boston won't be much of a fight. But I don't see that happening, Lakers have too much to throw at them from all 3 levels, and are the only team out West beside Minny that can actually strong arm them and play big.

We'll see what happens, hope Denver takes it, but it's going to be the toughest round 1 matchup out there for any Top team.

[Liam_Gallagher]

I have the Lakers winning in 6 and here's why:

1. Depth: The Lakers have gotten deeper since last year's playoff run. They replaced Schroder with Dinwiddie AND Gabe Vincent while replacing Wenyen Gabriel with Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood. Their only 3&D player last year was Troy Brown and they replaced him with Teauren Prince and Cam Redish. The Nuggets lost Jeff Green and Bruce Brown and didn't replace them.

2. Shooting: The Lakers have better shooters now. Reaves, D'Lo, Hachimura and LeBron are all around 40% from three - that's four players in their starting lineup. Prince and Vincent can also shoot coming off the bench. Last year the only shooters they had were Reaves and Beasley - Beasley was benched in playoffs and D'Lo was cold. D'Lo isn't going to be that atricious this time around, he has a chip on his shoulder.

3. Point of attack defenders: The Lakers can now throw Vincent, Dinwiddie, Prince, and Redish at Murray. Last year their only hope was Schroder, who was too short. Vanderbilt being out is addition by subtraction - he can't shoot.

4. The law of average: The Nuggets have beaten the Lakers 8 times in a row. That's not going to last - the Lakers are angry.

[mademan]

A lot of people here are underrating the Lakers bigtime due to their seeding and record, like they didn’t learn from last year when the Lakers went all the way to WCF as the 7th seed. We all know that Lebron and AD just coast during the regular season. Comparing the supporting cast of Jokic and Lebron:

AD >> Murray
Allstar Dlo > KCP
Olympian Reaves = MPJ
Rui = AG

Nuggets x factor and bench from last year Bruce Brown is now gone, so both teams basically now have weak benches. Nuggets don’t have an advantage there anymore.

I can see this series going 6 or 7, toss-up between the two.

But Jokic>>>>Lebron

That's what makes this matchup so interesting to me though, LeBron can outplay Jokic for a game or two and that's all this Lakers team needs.

If LeBron goes all out in Game 1 or 2 and they steal one at Denver, everything changes. We all know about the Laker Whistle, and what happens if Davis gets a quick gimme fouls on Jokic? Lakers have a chance to blow that game out of the water.

This is by far the scariest matchup in the entiire playoffs for Denver imo, and if they win it handily, they are a lock to win it all imo, and Boston won't be much of a fight. But I don't see that happening, Lakers have too much to throw at them from all 3 levels, and are the only team out West beside Minny that can actually strong arm them and play big.

We'll see what happens, hope Denver takes it, but it's going to be the toughest round 1 matchup out there for any Top team.

Youre either overrating Lebron or underrating Jokic. Lebron ouplaying jokic for a single game would be wild.

And i dunno how a team that the Nuggets have beaten 8 times in a row is the biggest challenge for them. Suns would be tougher, imo. Minny too, Dallas as well and Clips. This is one of the better matchups for the Nugs in the West

[BelgradeNugget]

If both teams are healthy, it'll be a competitive series.

James and Davis are very good. And the Lakers' strategy of getting fouled without fouling is really smart.

LeBron's teams in the past used strategy of best opposing player being in foul trouble all the time. Do you think they will use it this time?