LeBron James had heavy praise for the Denver Nuggets after finalizing their place in the 2024 Playoffs as the No. 7 seed, who’ll need to upset the reigning champions in Round 1 to make a playoff run.
“It’s the defending champions. They know what it takes. They know how to win. They’ve been extremely dominant on their home floor. … They got an MVP on their team. They got a closer on their team. They got a hell of a coach. We have to play mistake-free basketball to make it tough on team, they’re gonna try to make it tough on us obviously. But we’re gonna play the greatest game we can play, they’re gonna play the greatest game they can play and it’s gonna come down to one or two possessions and we’ll see who executes then.”
The Lakers earned the No. 7 seed in the West after a 120-116 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the 7-8 Play-In Tournament game. LeBron put up 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists in the win.
While the Pelicans face the winner of the Warriors vs. Kings game for a chance at the No. 8 seed and a matchup against the Thunder, the Lakers can relish the extra day of rest as they prepare to take down the champions.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Nuggets are arguably their worst matchup in the NBA right now. The teams met in the 2023 Western Conference Finals, where the Nuggets swept the Lakers in a competitive series with the lowest total point difference for a sweep in NBA history. The Nuggets followed that up by going 3-0 against the Lakers in the 2023-24 regular season.
The Lakers will be heavy underdogs in this series, so they have to find a way to lock in and pull off one of the biggest upsets in recent history.
Can The Lakers Stop Nikola Jokic And Jamal Murray?
The Lakers will have their hands full while trying to stop the Nuggets in this series, especially with their defense being weaker over the season compared to last year. Nikola Jokic completely dominated the Lakers offensively last season, averaging 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 11.8 assists, with the Lakers having periods of success by using Anthony Davis as a help defender with Rui Hachimura matching up with Jokic.
Jokic has displayed his offensive control over the Lakers this season, improving his scoring output to averages of 29.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 9.0 assists in three games. Without Jarred Vanderbilt’s defense as another option, the Lakers will need to hope that the Hachimura-Davis combo has some impact on Jokic’s production, especially his scoring output.
Jamal Murray was the true scorer in the 2023 series win over the Lakers, averaging 32.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists on 52.7% from the field and 40.5% from 3. Every time a clutch shot was required, Murray stepped up to drain them in. He averaged 24.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 9.3 assists over the three games this season, reducing his output but remaining just as clutch as last season.
Limiting Murray is challenging because the Lakers don’t have any elite guard defenders that can stay in front of him. Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell can be spotty defensively, though Reaves would be a better defensive option on Murray than Russell. Cam Reddish could theoretically be the best defender for Murray, but it’s unlikely he can find a way into the Lakers playoff rotation.
The Lakers have a lot to figure out, but they’ll hope that the Nuggets’ run of incredible shotmaking against them at least slows down.
Game 1 of the series will be hosted by the Nuggets and played on Saturday.
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