Here's how thoroughly Nuggets owned LeBron James, Lakers in 2023-24 season
30/04/2024 18:51
A few years ago, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers had a stranglehold on the Toronto Raptors. Now, LeBron is feelinig the same thing that Toronto felt back in the late 2010s. For the last year or so, the Denver Nuggets have had the Lakers’ number. Whether it’s in the regular season or the playoffs, Denver has been tormenting LA.
How bad is it? Well, this season alone, the Nuggets have played spoiler to the Lakers multiple times. Dave McMenamin compiled a list of times Denver was able to get one over LA. Spoiler alert: there was a lot. It sure seems like Denver has a knack for ruining Lakers fans’ lives.
“The Nuggets beat the Lakers on opening night.
The Nuggets beat the Lakers the night the franchise unveiled Kobe Bryant’s statue.
The Nuggets beat the Lakers the night LeBron James became the first player to reach 40,000 points.
The Nuggets beat the Lakers to end their season.”
Lakers fans are usually feisty enough to be snarky and come up with a comeback. They’re one of the most passionate fanbases, so they are good for some fights on social media. This time around, though, LA fans seem to be broken and defeated. As one fan succinctly put it:
“They have full ownership on us”
The “ownership” claim extends beyond this season. Last year, the Nuggets ended the Lakers’ incredible run in the playoffs, booting them out with a broom by sweeping them in the Western Conference Finals. Since then, Los Angeles has not had success against Denver.
Nuggets’ domination against Lakers
Truth be told, the Nuggets should have easily dispatched the Lakers in the first round. Despite the momentum from the Play-In Tournament, LA is way beneath Denver in the pecking order. A 4-1 sweep on paper is the exact result that fans were looking for.
That being said, Denver made this series a touch harder for themselves. It felt like the Nuggets were sleepwalking at some points during the series. In fact, they were down by double-digit points at least once in every single game. The usually well-oiled machine that is the Denver team did not run as cleanly as they did in the regular season. Only Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon were playing up to their level: Jamal Murray was inconsistent as hell.
So how did the Nuggets win this series? Well, timely adjustments from Michael Malone were crucial in orchestrating the comebacks. It also helped that the Nuggets never allowed the Lakers to be truly comfortable even with a lead. Even in their 20-point comeback, crucial shots from Murray and Jokic gave the team life. Come crunch time, Denver gave themselves a fighting chance, and they got that.
While the win is great, the Nuggets seriously need to start “waking up” earlier in their games. The Minnesota Timberwolves are next up on the menu, and they are uniquely suited to match up against Denver. Murray and the rest of Denver’s squad have to start taking the starts seriously… or else.
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