2024 Playoffs Western Conference First Round: (2) Denver Nuggets vs (7) LA Lakers
- Thread starter InstaFace
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You missed a zero, but yeah.
It’s absurd the Lakers blew this game with Russell looking like prime Klay on offense for three quarters, Davis and Lebron pouring points in at an efficient rate, and Murray shooting 9/24.
The Nuggets are just so tough. The Lakers played a great game and executed well - they just couldn't hold off the juggernaut.
What a tough loss. Such a shame the Lakers had to lose like that.
What a tough loss. Such a shame the Lakers had to lose like that.
Their biggest problem is lack of depth. Only 6 Lakers have scored a point this series so they cannot sustain these hot starts.
Nope. Totally defensible - they’re clearly the other team in the Celtics’ tier this year, they have the best player in the league, and they’re killers in close/late situations. I don’t recall reading much (anything?) in this forum suggesting the C’s wouldn’t have their hands full against Denver, at a minimum.
The dubious son asks.
Is that the 5th question of Passover.
Seems reasonable. And a question I've asked but don't know the answer to.
No, I just don't want to hear anything about the regular season matchups this year. The first one had White & Horford going nearly scoreless, complete fluke.
Denver has a real shot, but Boston should absolutely be the favorites if it happens and rosters are healthy.
Horford and White combined for 30 points in the first matchup. In the second one, they combined for 9. The bigger takeaway from those 2 games for me is that Tatum isn’t likely to shoot 38% in a series.
I'm extremely concerned about Denver, but it's more about their defense and overall approach. I think that part of them is underrated, while their offense is somewhat overrated.
gonna be close odds wise if they play. I know they seem unbeatable to everyone rn but you play enough close games youre gonna get burned sometime.
That was amazing. He looked like giraffe falling into a swarm of giant ants.
Fanduel has odds already on specific matchups. Celtics favored overall to the win title because they are seen as more likely to reach the Finals. But they have Celtics over Nuggets at +410 and Nuggets over Celtics at +530, which I guess tells you how they perceive the teams straight-up (unless I don't understand betting odds at all).
Just as impressive as the comeback was that they did it without ever finding their range from 3. Denver was 6-23 from 3 in the 1st half and just 2-11 in the 2nd half (including 1-4 in the 4th quarter). Maybe this shouldn't come as any sort of surprise (Denver was dead last in 3PAs over the regular season), but it really is something to watch, not just in obvious contrast to Boston but to most of the league.
Whatever else we've learned about Denver, the Lakers absolutely cannot stop their crunch time offense. Not even close.
Whatever else we've learned about Denver, the Lakers absolutely cannot stop their crunch time offense. Not even close.
Jokic/Murray, 21 of their 47 points in the 4th.
Davis/Dlo, 2 of their 55 in the 4th.
In spite of their big lead, this just always felt like Denver was coming back to win it.
Davis/Dlo, 2 of their 55 in the 4th.
In spite of their big lead, this just always felt like Denver was coming back to win it.
This is one of the funnier things I've ever read. Just completely fucking shameless from ESPN.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40004391/lebron-james-sounds-officiating-replay-center-lakers-game-2-loss-nuggets
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40004391/lebron-james-sounds-officiating-replay-center-lakers-game-2-loss-nuggets
Hopefully the league and the officiating union apologize again for causing sleepless nights in LA.
I didn't stay up for it - did Lakers use Lebron on Jokic at all? I know it's non-conventional and you can't use it too often, but I wonder if Lebron's strength and savvy is worth a shot on some key possessions, allowing AD to be the rover. One thing seems clear: Lakers other approaches ain't working
According to this article - https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lakers-nuggets-game-2-the-three-biggest-mistakes-darvin-ham-made-during-stunning-second-half-collapse/ - DEN and LAL "had played a total of 18 clutch minutes since the beginning of the 2023 Western Conference Finals. Denver won those minutes by a whopping 32 points. In Game 2, the Nuggets won the final five minutes and eight seconds by 10 points."
Wow.
And I didn't watch the game but if DEN is leaving Dinwiddie alone on offense, Ham shouldn't play him.He was -9 last night and -12 in 13 minutes on Saturday.
Wow.
And I didn't watch the game but if DEN is leaving Dinwiddie alone on offense, Ham shouldn't play him.He was -9 last night and -12 in 13 minutes on Saturday.
In the final minutes, the Lakers had Lebron and AD interchangeably on Jokic and Murray— a good tactic, since you know Denver is going to switch constantly anyway. I thought AD contested the final shot from Murray really well— it was a case of "good defense, better offense." LeBron mostly held up on both guys. AD did get pushed around by Jokic a few times in the post— he's just so strong.
Edit: as a Celtics fan watching the ending in mild horror (or at least apprehension), all I can say that CJM better get ready to go offense-defense with KP and Tillman at the end of close games, if we get that far.
Jeez. Those two are the Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez of not talking to the press after tough losses.
Thanks. I was advocating pre-trade deadline for a widebody big for this and the GA matchups specifically...so I'm glad they got Tillman. I just think you have no hope vs Jokic if he can put you in the basket. He owned KP, and while Jrue can handle many bigs (and there was some advocacy here for him vs Jokic) he simply isn't big enough for Joker. Of course, Jokic still may beat you, but with bulk you have some chance.
I'm not sure what other options Lakers really have defensively--they just have to keep rotating LBJ, AD, and Hachimura and hope for better offense I guess. They didn't give up 120 or anything, but you just don't feel like they can get a key stop either. Doubling Jokic is rarely useful.
I was higher on Lakers roster this offseason than is warranted---not enough size for the West, and not enough reliable creators.
Why are people so down on the Lakers' defense when they gave up 101 tough points? You take that all day, every day. The problem is that their own offense sucks when someone isn't on a random heater.
This is the story with Denver in general imo: you have to outscore and outmath them. It's not easy, but there's a path. It probably requires something like the Celtics roster, where there's enough shooting and ballhandling to punish Jokic in ways teams usually can't.
This is the story with Denver in general imo: you have to outscore and outmath them. It's not easy, but there's a path. It probably requires something like the Celtics roster, where there's enough shooting and ballhandling to punish Jokic in ways teams usually can't.
What I was suggesting is that their offense is definitely going to suck and thus if their crunch-time defense consistently seems vulnerable vs Denver they have no chance. But the Lakers defense isn't getting blown out for 48 minutes at all.
People are reacting to LA getting only one stop in the last 10 Denver possessions (on a jump-out steal by Lebron no less, which was a great play but not a conventional 'guarding someone and making them miss' sequence).
To the "random heater" part: LA will be in every game this series where good D-Lo shows up, IMO. They don't have a shot with bad G1 D-Lo. I still see this going 5-6 games.
The problem for LA is that LeBron is too old and Davis has always had a penchant for disappearing late. They are basically a borderline title contender for the first 3 quarters, but they can’t hang in the end. LeBron’s gear last night was super impressive, but he didn’t carry much of the offensive load until then and no way he can sustain it for 6-8 weeks. He was gassed badly in the play-in and Game 1, probably because he was shouldering a bigger load those games in quarters 1-3.
They are one scorer away from being a threat and LeBron ain’t getting any younger, nor can you rely on Davis’s miracle health season like this year moving forward.
They are one scorer away from being a threat and LeBron ain’t getting any younger, nor can you rely on Davis’s miracle health season like this year moving forward.
Yep. The Lakers offense completely stalled in the 2nd half (40 points
) Apprehension Central in the halfcourt, barely getting shots off before the 24. Maybe Denver altitude sapped the Bron/AD pick-n-roll by Q4? Dinwiddie/Vincent were no help or energy off the bench. The Lakers have a bunch of clueless defenders in DLo & PrinceWe rarely want the Lakers to win but they are creating film on how to slow down the Nuggets' juggernaut. Denver is in for a long playoff run. Minnesota or PHX up next, but hoping LAL gets the League Office to drag this out with a home whistle.
I don't know enough about the science behind it, but you could probably argue playing at elevation was a major issue for LA down the stretch in both games when they gassed out.
The stat that only six Lakers have scored over two games is pretty damning. They are getting basically nothing from their bench, plus almost nothing on offense from Rui. That is an enormous burden on AD/LeBron to be great for 48 minutes.
The stat that only six Lakers have scored over two games is pretty damning. They are getting basically nothing from their bench, plus almost nothing on offense from Rui. That is an enormous burden on AD/LeBron to be great for 48 minutes.
He is? Dude just put up a 26/8/12/2/2 with only 2 turnovers in 38 minutes and was +2.
I think this is exactly right. The Lakers just don't have the offensive horses to score enough points and sustain it for 48 minutes. They've now jumped out to early leads in both games, they were up 10 in game 1 about halfway through the 2nd quarter, but Denver just slowly climbs back in it.
Jokic wants nothing to do with coming out of the paint on defense, and when DLo got hot, they were able to make them pay for it. And in the end, if Austin Reeves doesn't go 1/5 from deep, and Lebron doesn't brick one as the game was ending, the Lakers probably steal this one in Denver.
I also think you have to consistently force Jokic into the high action, when you don't run the ball up and down the court and tire his ass out. The issue for the Lakers is they can't run his ass down the court, because their two stars are equally as likely to get gassed coming down the stretch, so it becomes a halfcourt game on both ends, and that game favors Denver, against everyone. Denver lost 3 games this season to Houston, they lost they lost 3 times to Sacramento, they lost 3 times to OKC, etc. Those are young teams that run on you with their young legs. IMO, that's the model and the Lakers just don't have that in the bag.
Denver was +14 on true shot attempts, a combination of the Lakers being impotent on the offensive glass (they are the worst offensive rebounding team in the league) and turning the ball over.
I wonder what the Lakers record in games this year is when they don't have a FTA advantage. More FGA by both teams puts the Lakers at a disadvantage because of the rebounding thing -- offensive rebound rate on free throws is pretty low for everyone (and thereby not really an issue), especially when you consider how much more often a free throw goes in -- and it likely hurts their mediocre transition defense. They gave up a lot of transition during the regular season for a team that doesn't crash the offensive glass.
I think the Lakers are operating in this series under some marginal but meaningful disadvantages.
I wonder what the Lakers record in games this year is when they don't have a FTA advantage. More FGA by both teams puts the Lakers at a disadvantage because of the rebounding thing -- offensive rebound rate on free throws is pretty low for everyone (and thereby not really an issue), especially when you consider how much more often a free throw goes in -- and it likely hurts their mediocre transition defense. They gave up a lot of transition during the regular season for a team that doesn't crash the offensive glass.
I think the Lakers are operating in this series under some marginal but meaningful disadvantages.