Nuggets, I'm concerned

[Statlanta]

I'd be worried if they did this to the Celtics or if they did this to Minnesota and Minnesota had homecourt. Otherwise I think they are fine.

[ChiTownHero1992]

Well you ask half the fans on here the Lakers are apparently the best 7th seed in history and should've been a top 3 seed....so thats part of it, secondly they didn't play great but still won, this happens probably 20+ times every season to above .500 teams.

[Triple M]

Lakers cant really play a full game because LeBron and AD cant play 40 mins. Too many mins where the 4th to 6th best laker was innitiating offense because the top 2 Lakers were fatigued

[hauntedcomputer]

With every loss, Darvin Ham deviously "makes adjustments." By the time the sweep is done, he'll be a genius.

[Zeno]

I find their attitude starting games to be concerning. I also don’t trust many of their guys to make outside open shots. But the Lakers are way better than you think. I don’t think Lakers have the stamina to win throughout the playoffs but for one series, they are one of the tougher teams.

Yup closest 10 game losing streak to Denver ever.

I never said I am concerned for the Nuggets this series. I just think they need to be less lax and that their complimentary players don’t shoot well enough. I was defending the Lakers as a quality 1st round opponent, not saying they stand much of a chance.

[tsherkin]

Lakers cant really play a full game because LeBron and AD cant play 40 mins. Too many mins where the 4th to 6th best laker was innitiating offense because the top 2 Lakers were fatigued

They have played 84 and 79 minutes across 2 games. They have done it. Both of them have olayed well. Their stamina is not what has caused issues for LA at all.

[BigGargamel]

Really high quality thread right here. Keep 'em coming boys.

[danvato]

what i'm concered about is their depth. Last year BB and Jeff Green played 43mpg off the bench. They can get away with a little bit of Holiday and Jackson and Payton in the 1st round. The deeper they go the more i see a 6 man rotation with Braun playing like 10 min.

[Handlez]

They certainly don't have a strong bench or consistent shooting.

[nomansland]

Lakers cant really play a full game because LeBron and AD cant play 40 mins. Too many mins where the 4th to 6th best laker was innitiating offense because the top 2 Lakers were fatigued

They have played 84 and 79 minutes across 2 games. They have done it. Both of them have olayed well. Their stamina is not what has caused issues for LA at all.

They were both looking spent at the end of each of those games though.

[tsherkin]

Lakers cant really play a full game because LeBron and AD cant play 40 mins. Too many mins where the 4th to 6th best laker was innitiating offense because the top 2 Lakers were fatigued

They have played 84 and 79 minutes across 2 games. They have done it. Both of them have olayed well. Their stamina is not what has caused issues for LA at all.

They were both looking spent at the end of each of those games though.

Not that different from their 20s after carrying everyone, to be fair. G2, Reaves was trash and the bench did nothing in the first half or the third. And Lebron was 5/9 in the 4th, very much not spent.

[GrandTheftRondo]

I definitely think they’re more beatable this year because it’s insanely hard to go back to back as we’ve seen many times and the West is a lot stronger.

It’s really going to depend on how well they play in the early stages of the game. They’re really going to be gambling big time if they’re falling behind by large margins in multiple games of a series.

If they keep games close or blow teams out themselves, they are insanely hard to beat because Jokic may be one of the smartest and best closers I’ve seen.

[nomansland]

They have played 84 and 79 minutes across 2 games. They have done it. Both of them have olayed well. Their stamina is not what has caused issues for LA at all.

They were both looking spent at the end of each of those games though.

Not that different from their 20s after carrying everyone, to be fair. G2, Reaves was trash and the bench did nothing in the first half or the third. And Lebron was 5/9 in the 4th, very much not spent.

He pulled himself out in the 4th though for what, like 6 minutes? He needed to rest for the final minutes and even then his legs came out from under him at least once. As amazing as he's been, he's finally starting to look old at times.

And I still dispute that stamina didn't affect Davis. Moreso in the first game, but in both games you could tell he was out of steam. Not blaming him, he left nothing on the court, but it's just tough to play that many minutes, especially at altitude.

[EmpireFalls]

The Nuggets played crap and then went 7-7, yes 7 for 7, to finish the game. That’s why I’m not concerned.

[lessthanjake]

This particular 7th seed has two all-NBA players and made the conference finals last year while being less healthy than they are now. Not exactly the typical 7th seed. The West is just really deep with very good teams this year, so there’s no easy out.

[Mir]

Ya all misunderstood me.

I know the Lakers are better than your average 7th seed, and that facing Lebron and AD is not going to be an easy task.

But, the Nuggets are also not yout typical high seed team, they are the reigning champs, with arguably the best player in the world and are willing to repeat.

When I say I'm concerned, it's not about the outcome of this first round, I know they are gonna beat the Lakers.
No, I'm more concerned about their (potential) title run, cause they are going to play againt much tougher teams then (Clippers or Mavs, probably Twolves then the Celtics), and so far the Nuggets have not proven they are going to dominate them.

[tmorgan]

Meh. In terms of playoff opponent, nobody in the West is really much tougher than the Lakers. OKC has no experience, the Clippers are fragile, Dallas should be easier to game-plan against, Phoenix is really poorly put together, and the Zion-less Pelicans just aren’t good enough. I’ll make an exception for Minnesota, who have depth, defense, and a playoff scorer or two. That should be a good series.

Boston’s a really good team, and that should be a great Finals. I’ll be pretty surprised if that isn’t the matchup. The Nuggets will need to work harder to get there, but Boston will be dealing with more pressure. Nugs in 7.

[Wallace_Wallace]

KCP and Gordon are bound to have a good shooting game (at least once per series). Braun, Watson and Holiday will keep their pitbull energy off the bench. Besides Minnesota (New Orleans somewhat, but they won’t make it to WCF), no team can physically matchup with them.

Or maybe just don’t hype up a 7th seed then. As a 7th seed, they played Phoenix (lost), Grizzlies (won) and Denver (likely a lost). Phoenix and Denver were good teams, if the Grizzlies didn’t have so many boneheaded players they would have won too.

[tsherkin]

They were both looking spent at the end of each of those games though.

Not that different from their 20s after carrying everyone, to be fair. G2, Reaves was trash and the bench did nothing in the first half or the third. And Lebron was 5/9 in the 4th, very much not spent.

He pulled himself out in the 4th though for what, like 6 minutes? He needed to rest for the final minutes and even then his legs came out from under him at least once. As amazing as he's been, he's finally starting to look old at times.

And I still dispute that stamina didn't affect Davis. Moreso in the first game, but in both games you could tell he was out of steam. Not blaming him, he left nothing on the court, but it's just tough to play that many minutes, especially at altitude.

Right, it's possible it affected them a little, as it would anyone. But that 100% is not why they lost, and would also affect anyone. Your bench needs to contribute and Denver wasnt gonna be ice cold all game long.

[Raps in 4]

Remember guys, the Lakers have them figured out.

One of the top posts in the Lakers subreddit postgame thread last night.

They've lost 6 straight playoff games (10 straight games overall) to the Nuggets now but they could easily beat them if they wanted to.