2024 Western Conference First Round (2) Denver vs. (7) L.A. Lakers** Schedule: • Game 1: Lakers vs. Nuggets; Saturday, April 20 (8:30 ET, ABC) • Game 2: Lakers vs. Nuggets; Monday, April 22 (10 ET, TNT) • Game 3: Nuggets vs. Lakers; Thursday, April 25 (10 ET, TNT) • Game 4: Nuggets vs. Lakers; Saturday, April 27 (8:30 ET, ABC) • Game 5: Lakers vs. Nuggets; Monday, April 29 (TBD, TBD)* • Game 6: Nuggets vs. Lakers; Thursday, May 2 (TBD, TBD)* • Game 7: Lakers vs. Nuggets; Saturday, May 4 (TBD, TNT)* ** = Winner of 7/8 Game * = If necessary
Nuggets are a matchup nightmare for the Lakers. But mysteriously and magically, the Lakers shoot 3x as many free throws as any other team in the league.
I think the Lakers will win in 7 and here's why: 1) Nuggets bench/depth is worse this year 2) Bruce Brown and Jeff Green were the true difference makers in that series 3) Lakers have more depth at the guard position so of DLo pulls a houdini, Dinwiddie, Gabe Vincent, or Austin Reeves can replace (depending on hot hand) 4) All games were decided by an average of 6 points in last year's playoffs Honorable mention: Jamal Murray started to get banged up at the end of season whereas LeBron and AD are looking healthy...I'm pulling for the Nuggets, but I think Lakers will prevail this time around
This is LeBron's nightmare, first round matchup vs the Nuggets I guess you can say this is karma for Lebronto, at the tail end of his career he now knows what it feels like to hit the wall again and again. But maybe he pulls it out this time he's got multiple days of rest and Nuggets are weaker now than last year. MPJ's bro got into a scandal so that's probably affecting him as well. If Lakers can get past Nuggets I think they have a clear path to the Finals they match well against every other Western team.
Joker is a bully and AD is sawft Lakers gonna lose unless at the end of the series we can tell AD . . . Rocket River
Yeah, that ain't right. Lakers and Nuggets are on similar levels. They both have two stars and solid starting lineups. Russell, Reaves, and Hachimura ain't that much better or worse than Gordon, Porter, and Caldwell-Pope. They're different starting lineups, but overall not much difference in talent level. If Vanderbilt comes back, the Lakers get a nice advantage at the bench, but again, Vincent, Prince, and Hayes ain't that much better or worse than Jackson, Braun, and Watson. As of now, the benches are even. I'm picking the Nuggets because Jokic and Murray are likely to have the two best performances in the series just like last season. If the Lakers win, it will be because we witnessed the greatest screw job in history or LeBron and Davis were the top two players in the series. BTW, we'll definitely see a screw job with the Lakers having huge advantages in free throws and fouls even in a loss just like last season. Also, who knows if Porter Jr. will be suspended pending investigation because his brother got caught betting. Either way, he might have problems keeping focus and you don't want to be unfocused as a sniper.
Throughout his career, AD has hated playing C partially because he hates guarding bigger players, like Jokic. The Lakers can win this series if Denver's bench does not play well. On the other hand, if Jokic needs to go rogue and play bullyball, nobody on the Lakers can stop him. For this series, I may not tune in until the late 3rd quarter because nothing beforehand really matters. It's almost schizo how the Nuggets transform in crunch time.
