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- If the Nuggets beat the Blazers in last game of season then they might be playing Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

- If the Nuggets lose to the Blazers in last game of season then they are most likely playing Blazers in the first round of the playoffs.

Ya, it'd be smart. But I'd rather win to stick with the 3 seed and boost Jokic's MVP odds, I suspect the Lakers will lose one of their next 2 games.

If they don't... then ya take the L and keep the Lakers away

Thats assuming Lakers win one of the last 2, and thats far from a guarantee.

I don’t think the Nuggets can beat the Lakers regardless of what round they face them. I also think Jokers MVP is completely wrapped up so much of a muchness in my opinion.

Jokic on facing the Lakers in the 1st round:

“If it happens, it happens. Why not? If we want to win it, we need to play with the best. We are not going to try to fix anything.”

Malone is known for playing "4D chess", but I say **** it and have a go at them in the first round. No reason to be afraid of any team, especially the team whose two stars just recovered from injuries.

If Lebron was healthy, I'd def throw the game if I was DEN. But since he is gimpy, I might shoot my shot and go for it. This is probably the best shot to take the Lakers out.

it wont matter if Lakers lose tomorrow

mademan wrote:Thats assuming Lakers win one of the last 2, and thats far from a guarantee.

Even if the Lakers win out the Blazers are the 6th seed if they beat Denver. If the Lakers lose any of their final two games they are basically the 7th seed without question no matter what Dallas or Portland do.

zimpy27 wrote:- If the Nuggets beat the Blazers in last game of season then they are playing Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

- If the Nuggets lose to the Blazers in last game of season then they are playing Blazers in the first round of the playoffs.

We don't know any of that, what are you talking about? The Nuggets could still play either of the Blazers or the Lakers if they win, and if they lose, they could play the Mavs, Lakers or Blazers.

No. Quite frankly I'll even say this: the Nuggets should win the damn game and face the Lakers b/c you may as well get it out of the way for the following reasons:

1) Lakers are vulnerable. Dennis Schroeder has missed the past couple of weeks on health&safety protocol. This team without LBJ and AD looked like the globetrotters the way they struggled horribly against the Rockets. AD is way too injury prone plus he, LBJ and Schroeder will be trying to clear the rust off of their absence. If they get into the play-in game, it gives them more time to work off the rust, heal up and be a problem later on as quite frankly their best match up would be the Suns who outside of CP3, Jae Crowder and Torrey Craig have no playoff experience and would make life a living hell for Devin Booker.

2) The big man rotation for the Lakers is weak outside of AD. When you have to rely on a past his prime Gasol to facilitate and get people to their spots, your in big trouble. Drummond is essentially a bigger version of Harrell in that both are poor FT shooters and while Drummond can provide 2nd chance points, he's more likely to commit dumb fouls and do something stupid that has antagonized his previous fan bases in the past. Harrell is too damn undersized for a big and his PTSD will be triggered if he has to face Jokic again. Luckily Gasol has been brought in for this purpose to stall Jokic, but Father time is undefeated and as seen last year in the bubble, it was hard to watch the C's dice him up to the point Nick Nurse had to yank him.

3) Monte Morris's return. People tend to overlook Monte, but they don't call him the Count of Monte AST/TO for nothing. This dude can move with/without the ball and his ability to provide calm to the team when Jokic isn't on the floor is a much needed bonus and to think his 3/27M ex. doesn't begin till next year is a steal especially with no P/O. Outside of him, the Nuggets guard rotation minus Murray was brutal to watch. With Dozier, Barton, Murray and Morris out along with Gordon for a few games it's a miracle the Nuggets held down the damn fort.

4) The Nuggets starting front court of MPJ, Aaron Gordon and Jokic is a massive problem. If MPJ can heat up and Gordon can make smart cuts to the basket for easy buckets, it's gonna be a problem. Jokic is an absolute nightmare who can carve up team defenses and has developed an aggressive streak where he's more assertive than ever about getting buckets when all the other options are closed.

It's gonna be interesting to watch as the Lakers are good at running people off the 3pt line and funnelling them into AD or forcing bad shots, but if your the Nuggets and you have the opportunity to strike, do it now.

Johnny Firpo wrote:

zimpy27 wrote:- If the Nuggets beat the Blazers in last game of season then they are playing Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

- If the Nuggets lose to the Blazers in last game of season then they are playing Blazers in the first round of the playoffs.

We don't know any of that, what are you talking about? The Nuggets could still play either of the Blazers or the Lakers if they win, and if they lose, they could play the Mavs, Lakers or Blazers.

Yeah I changed OP to reflect that it's not a guarantee but a more likely outcome.

I dunno, karma can be a bihh sometimes.

Can't win the title without playing tough teams. No point in ducking.

To avoid the Lakers? No.

The Lakers aren't some juggernaut. They're favourites because they're good and they're the reigning champs but this isn't the Durant-era Warriors we're talking about, there's more than a few teams that can beat them in a 7 game series.

I don’t like them going vs Lakers because the refs let inferior Laker centers just beat Jokic up. You want Gasol just shoving you and hitting you with no whistle like last game, Nikola? Not smart.

It would be the smart thing to do if they want to play in the 2nd round.

zimpy27 wrote:

Johnny Firpo wrote:

zimpy27 wrote:- If the Nuggets beat the Blazers in last game of season then they are playing Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

- If the Nuggets lose to the Blazers in last game of season then they are playing Blazers in the first round of the playoffs.

We don't know any of that, what are you talking about? The Nuggets could still play either of the Blazers or the Lakers if they win, and if they lose, they could play the Mavs, Lakers or Blazers.

Yeah I changed OP to reflect that it's not a guarantee but a more likely outcome.

More likely outcome based on what? The Lakers are 5-5 over their last 10 games, with Davis in the lineup for most of the games. There is no guarantee that Davis and LeBron are actually healthy enough to do ****, while the Pacers are trying to get to the 8th seed and I am sure Ingram and Ball would love nothing more than to ensure the Lakers face the playing games.

FinnTheHuman wrote:I don’t like them going vs Lakers because the refs let inferior Laker centers just beat Jokic up. You want Gasol just shoving you and hitting you with no whistle like last game, Nikola? Not smart.

It really is sad, the Nuggets got screwed by the refs in the conference finals as bad as the King's did in 02, yet because we are a smaller market and it was against Lebron's Lakers nobody talks about it.

Sgt Major wrote:Jokic on facing the Lakers in the 1st round:

“If it happens, it happens. Why not? If we want to win it, we need to play with the best. We are not going to try to fix anything.”

He doesn’t make those decisions though. And he gave a generic sports answer. Nothingburger of a quote.