The Denver Nuggets have walked out of ring night in their home arena with a big smile, as the team once again dispatched the Lakers after sweeping the purple and gold franchise on their way to the 2023 title. The 2023/24 season opener ended 107-119 in the Nuggets’ favor, with reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic stealing the show.
This was the seventh consecutive year the Lakers have lost on opening night. Fans were quick to mock the Lakers for what could be another slow start to their season.
Home on Thursday pic.twitter.com/xUWc9gDHVF
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 25, 2023
One fan ripped into Anthony Davis, pulling a disappearing act.
Taurean Prince and a 40 year old LeBron got more points than AD. Austin Reaves got more rebounds than AD. On a season where he’s supposed to show it’s his team. Meanwhile Jokic casually dropped a 30 pts triple double on AD..
Year 21 and Bron still can’t get AD to step up🤦♂️
— 𝐆𝐄𝐄𝐙𝐘✎ツ (@YoungPiccasso) October 25, 2023
Some fans were even taking free graphics to mock the Lakers being eliminated from playoff contention already.
BREAKING: The Los Angeles Lakers have been eliminated from playoff contention. pic.twitter.com/dU1wfLyUYC
— ProphetX Hoops (@ProphetXHoops) October 25, 2023
Some Laker fans were upset with Darvin Ham being overly careful with LeBron’s minutes.
https://twitter.com/JamesEdrick3/status/1716990625055150137
Fans are already talking about the Kyrie Irving trade rumors for the Lakers again.
Kyrie to the Lakers mock trades for the 5th trade deadline in a row pic.twitter.com/IieL9PIRNw
— robert henry muse (@MavsBase) October 25, 2023
The game caused even Skip Bayless to remark that LeBron wasn’t getting fouls called in his favor, shooting just one free throw the entire game.
If LeBron got any respect from the refs, this game would be much closer. He shot zero free throws.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) October 25, 2023
Fans observed how effortlessly Jokic was cooking Davis in this matchup.
Jokic currently giving AD a menu to choose how he wants to be scored on.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 25, 2023
Everyone could see that Jokic and Davis aren’t on the same tier anymore, with Jokic being regarded as the better center, something he proved in the 2023 playoffs and again tonight.
yeahhh AD never winning that jokic matchup again lmao. it’s a GAP between them
— SJ (@SJBasketball8) October 25, 2023
Jokic notched a triple-double with 29 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists, while Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21 and 20 points, respectively.
The Lakers had a strong team effort led by LeBron James‘ 21 points, but Anthony Davis scoring 0 points in the second half and ending the game with just 17 points shows the Lakers have work to do before they can return to contention atop the West. Taurean Prince had a sensational debut with a 20-point outing in the loss.
The Lakers Didn’t Look Ready For This Matchup
It’s clear that the Lakers are going to take a while before they’re firing. This roster is still solid, but it’s a new group of players that had to play the majority of their preseason without LeBron in the lineup. They were losing preseason games as well, so maybe this Lakers roster isn’t as sound as it appears on paper.
The Nuggets still look terrifying, even with Bruce Brown and Jeff Green gone. They were still playing with their heavy ball movement with isolation scorers like Murray and Michael Porter Jr. having plenty of success during the game. Jokic was the star of the show, as he exerted his pressure on the game and ended up with an effortless triple-double.
The Lakers need Anthony Davis to start taking control of this squad, not shoot 0/6 in the second half. The only positive for the Lakers is that they fought back from an 18-point deficit early to make it a one-possession game, but it doesn’t matter because they still ultimately lost by 12 points.
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