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

[BelgradeNugget]

lebron and ad have been healthy all year and their role guys seem to have played better as of late. Denver looked a bit less dominant late in the season compared to how they finished last year. Denver is the better team assuming no injuries but the lakers are more dangerous in the first round then they would be in the wcf. This could go 7.

2022-23 post all-star break
Nuggets 12-11, 15th in the NBA

2023-24 post all-star break
Nuggets 21-6, 1st in the NBA

Last year they secured 1st in the west so they realxed a little at the end, anyway this year's end is much better

[LaLover11]

AD is better off just shooting 3's instead of posting up and turning over the ball. It also keeps Jokic out of the paint

[LaLover11]

Also guard everyone especially Murray and just dare Jokic to score 50 a game idk lol I'm excited

[MambaVenom24]

I don't know why the avalanche of the nuggets voters, in this type of playoff atmosphere you have to take the proven winner, on one hand you have the In season tournament winner vs team that didn't win the in season tournament ! There is a banner to prove this ! Call me when the Nuggets have an IST win and I'll be willing to listen to you, until then ...

Plus we have the goat of goats as I've been told vs some other team without the goat of goats , it will be an easy lakers sweep , it will be so bad it will be marked as 5-0 !

[Big_Aristotle]

Should be closer than last year. Lebron seems healthier, Russell plays with more confidence, Nuggets lost some good bench contributors, the Lakers have more impactful role players than last year and Vincent, Dinwiddie can share the load on guarding Murray.

Could be more interesting than many believe.

[LaLover11]

I don't know why the avalanche of the nuggets voters, in this type of playoff atmosphere you have to take the proven winner, on one hand you have the In season tournament winner vs team that didn't win the in season tournament ! There is a banner to prove this ! Call me when the Nuggets have an IST win and I'll be willing to listen to you, until then ...

Plus we have the goat of goats as I've been told vs some other team without the goat of goats , it will be an easy lakers sweep , it will be so bad it will be marked as 5-0 !

It's ok to Like KB24 and still be a modern Laker fan with LeBron..... Enjoy the show

[NO-KG-AI]

I’m glad all this talk about ducking certain matchups can go to bed for a while. Not a single dude in that Laker locker room was ever going to try to lose a game out of being scared of somebody. No competitor would. The projecting from people who never played a sport was maddening.

[Froob]

Nuggets in 5, I think most of em will be close.

[cupcakesnake]

I’m glad all this talk about ducking certain matchups can go to bed for a while. Not a single dude in that Laker locker room was ever going to try to lose a game out of being scared of somebody. No competitor would. The projecting from people who never played a sport was maddening.

Have people been saying this?
Absolutely no team ever would throw a game in the play-in. Individual games are too volatile for any team to bank their entire season on a single game. Teams may jockey into playoff seeding if they see a specific advantage, but once you're in the play-in, it is pure absolute pure desperation. You take what you can get in the play-in and pray you don't have a random cold shooting night (or face a heater from an opponent).

[cupcakesnake]

Also guard everyone especially Murray and just dare Jokic to score 50 a game idk lol I'm excited

This is literally what every single opponent tried to do last year.

It's not so simple to just "guard everyone" and turn them off just by not sending help at one player. NBA teams can still score against 5-4 defenses. It's not like by not sending help at Joker you all of a sudden have 10 extra defenders to throw at everyone else.

Jokic is too automatic when you don't try to bother his shot. He's the rare scorer that might just shoot 19 for 20 if you don't try to bother his shot. It's not tenable to let an opponent shoot 95% on 20 of their FGA lol. Dare Jokic to score and he'll... well... score!

There's no easy out. You have to bother Jokic and disrupt passing lanes to defend the Nuggets offense. Defend your tail off and hope the Nuggets get some ill timed cold stretches.

Lakers have lost 8 straight to the Nuggets. Something wild will have to happen for this to be a series.

[LaLover11]

Also guard everyone especially Murray and just dare Jokic to score 50 a game idk lol I'm excited

This is literally what every single opponent tried to do last year.

It's not so simple to just "guard everyone" and turn them off just by not sending help at one player. NBA teams can still score against 5-4 defenses. It's not like by not sending help at Joker you all of a sudden have 10 extra defenders to throw at everyone else.

Jokic is too automatic when you don't try to bother his shot. He's the rare scorer that might just shoot 19 for 20 if you don't try to bother his shot. It's not tenable to let an opponent shoot 95% on 20 of their FGA lol. Dare Jokic to score and he'll... well... score!

There's no easy out. You have to bother Jokic and disrupt passing lanes to defend the Nuggets offense. Defend your tail off and hope the Nuggets get some ill timed cold stretches.

Lakers have lost 8 straight to the Nuggets. Something wild will have to happen for this to be a series.

Please let him go 20-20 for 40 pts every game while Rui guards him and Let LeBron and AD be fresh trying to score 60 together. If Lakers can keep Murray at a reasonable 15-18ppg and the other spot shooters in control that's their only chance to realistically win this series

Absolutely no help defense whatsoever on Jokic ever not even to fake double at all please

[durden_tyler]

A sweep would be nice but LA is not that bad. i think they can steal one game.

[Wolfgang630]

I think it’ll go 6 games.

[EmpireFalls]

I’m glad all this talk about ducking certain matchups can go to bed for a while. Not a single dude in that Laker locker room was ever going to try to lose a game out of being scared of somebody. No competitor would. The projecting from people who never played a sport was maddening.

Hilarious discourse. The definition of mouth-breather ****.

[jokeboy86]

Even with the seeding and the Nuggets being favored, if the Lakers get swept AD and Ham are going to be run out of town.

[OriginalRed]

This will definitely not be a sweep like last year. I also don't expect D'LO to play as horrendous as he did last year as well so I'll say either Denver in 6 or Lakers in 7.

[art_tatum]

Bring out the broooooooooooommmmmm
Nugs in 5 at most
DLO takes a game for the lakers

[dWadeOwnzYou]

I will give the Lakers the benefit of the doubt and say they truly figured out the Nuggets and win the series in 7 games.

[Swish77]

Nuggets in 4. Lakers can't stop and won't stop Joker they have no answer for him.

[jc23]

lebron and ad have been healthy all year and their role guys seem to have played better as of late. Denver looked a bit less dominant late in the season compared to how they finished last year. Denver is the better team assuming no injuries but the lakers are more dangerous in the first round then they would be in the wcf. This could go 7.

2022-23 post all-star break
Nuggets 12-11, 15th in the NBA

2023-24 post all-star break
Nuggets 21-6, 1st in the NBA

Last year they secured 1st in the west so they realxed a little at the end, anyway this year's end is much better

ok, guess my memory tricked me again. How do you feel about your bench going into this playoffs vs last? will losing Brown be felt or do you think that his contribution has been filled by others?