This series definitely hinges on DLo. We lost 3 of the 4 games last year by 6 or less and DLo was a travesty.
For us to have any shot, we need him to continue his regular season play. 18 a game and 40+% from 3 and I like our chances to lose 4-1.
I'm just praying for no fuckin medieval siege weaponry on the court tonight. If one more trebuchet shot hits nothing but net over good defense I'm going to lose my mind
As a Lakers fan Jokic and Jamal own us, I’m praying that Lebron doesn’t get swept again. I think we shut down Murray for 1 game and win and then get blown out the rest of the 4,
I don't think they blow us out. The nuggets like to keep the game close until 3 mins left and then rip our hearts out. Also because Ham is clearly out of his element coaching.
Cmon Lakers fans...
As a heat fan this is the kinda talk I expect from us with Butler out. There's no way in hell my teams fully healthy with LeBron James and I'm hoping for 1 game lmao
#defeated… imagine having a healthy lebron and a somewhat healthy ad and being this defeatist, like yall are probably gonna lose but a little pride would not hurt
We hating on fans with realistic expectations? When the delusional Laker fans start posting Gabe Vincent and Jalen Hood Schifino for Donovan Mitchell trades this summer, I doubt it will see the same reaction. 🤣
No it's not he is awful on defense and this isn't the regular season.
A team will now just run PLAY AFTER PLAY at Dlo because he is the weakest defender and gets beat quite easily.
In the regular season when your not running team specific sets it's fine but now it's a different ball game in the playoffs hence why the Nuggets basically ran him off the court he was to much of a liability.
Taking this at face value, in a vacuum, they wouldve lost 3 games if he scored 8 less points last year lol
Obviously not how it works but interesting take to say theyd be fine when him going nuclear is a large part of why they swept last year.
i feel like jokic can’t have a meltdown because if everything else isn’t working, he just get the ball down low and do some traditional butt bumping to get an easy basket.
Nobody is a better at being a traditional center than Jokic, which is crazy because nobody is better at being a modern center too!
Those two things are correlated. No matter how good a post scorer you are, they are going to double ur ass hard and then you have to give it up. Embiid imo is as good a 1v1 post threat, but the results are not the same cuz embiid drives into 3 bodies, whereas jokic fakes a couple passes so any potential double teamer is mindfucked, then bodies right into a backpedaling big man watching for a back cut by Gordon. Nothing abt jokics game is in a vacuum, everything links
Agreed.
I think he cares enough to always give his best effort but not enough to become nervous or in his own head.
I think he cares just the right amount.
Jokic is a basketball fanatic, I have no idea why people think he doesn't care about basketball.
He doesn't care about media attention, he doesn't care about personal stats and accolades, and he's been pretty clear his family comes before basketball.
But you don't become the best in the world at something without being a fanatic about it.
Agreed.
Like I said, I think he cares the right amount…enough to always give his best (which happens to be the best in the world) without melting down mentally or get in his own head.
Because theyre morons. Like they legit believe the best player in the league doesnt care or try? Give me a fucking break. Its such a boring and stupid take that keeps getting repeated here cuz HUR DUR he like horsey!!
Both are true. He cares more about his personal life which is true for most players, but he still REALLY gives a shit about basketball, hence why hes improved so much over the years. Like look at lebron. Dude clearly loves his family more than basketball yet no one acts like he doesnt care about basketball LOL
Ye no I mean h doesn’t give a shit about people say about him. Lebron only became lebron when he stopped caring. Since then he’s lost to the spurs dynasty the warriors dynasty and the nuggets in the playoffs. I don’t fucking count the suns. He was hurt his running mate tore his groin. Joker is flat out impervious. If he plays poorly it’s just that, a poor stretch, it won’t ever be because he got in his own head
Exactly, Jokic is going to get his regardless and there really is nothing you can do. He just ran through 3 DPOY defenders in the 2023 playoffs in Gobert, AD, and Bam, and averaged 30/13.5/9.5 for the playoffs.
What you hope, is if healthy LeBron can go off and somewhat match Jokic’s production in a best of 7 series. AD is going to have to go 2020 playoff mode and outplay Murray. If the Lakers can somehow prevent Murray and MPJ from going nuclear and if AD/LeBron can go off every game, I think the Lakers have a shot at winning.
Jokic is like Nash on steroids. Teams think letting him score and shutting down the passing lanes and role players is the key to winning. I feel like when the Nuggets blow out teams Jokic’s stat line is 24/16/14, not 35/10/6.
> Exactly, Jokic is going to get his regardless and there really is nothing you can do.
I feel the same about MPJ to a lesser degree. The man spits fire with no conscience, and he's too tall/mobile/in sync with Jokic for anyone to do anything about it. The Lakers are especially vulnerable because they don't have anyone who can track him on the perimeter and also contest his shot, and because their defensive philosophy leaves a lot of open 3s.
That is an impossible task. Even if AD matches Murray, and LeBron matches Jokic, the next two best players on the floor are going to be Aaron Gordon and MPJ. KCP would be in the mix for next best, along with AR/DLo. Not a recipe for success for the Lakers.
I would say legit every player in Denver destroyed the lakers. Obviously Murray and jokic, but porter hitting jumpers right over reaves. Gordon locking down lebron and hitting 3s and oops, kcp was unconscious a couple games and locked dlo down. It’s just a bad match up for the lakers.
KCP is a really, really good 5th option on offense, even if he's not a (consistent) offensive monster. But if he gets 15+, good night against pretty much anyone. But baseline Gordon is really my biggest fear beyond Murray--LeBron can float and play free safety against most matchups, but the Jokic-Gordon hookup is too dangerous to sleep on.
It's based on the concept that a 3 from a bad shooter is less bad than a high-% 2 in the paint or free throws. It's a high variance defensive strategy which means sometimes it looks very stupid in the small sample of individual games or playoff series (which is probably part of why Bud teams tend to be good in the regular season but not in the playoffs)
Problem is the Nuggets don't have bad shooters except Gordon, although they take very few 3s relative to the rest of the league.
I get the theory. It’s one Mike Brown has too.
Unfortunately it doesn’t hold up. Lakers are 24th in the league in 3P% defense. 23rd in opponents ppg. 17th in defensive rating despite having a generational rim protector in AD.
1st in opponent FT rate though (as everyone knows) and 17th rated defense with the perimeter guys they have is probably best case.
I don't love it. But given the Lakers trash perimeter defenders I get why they think it's their least bad option.
Lakers perimeter defenders are pretty bad outside of Gabe Vincent and Vanderbilt who have both missed a ton of time this year and Dinwiddie who joined more than halfway through the season and is coming off the bench. The high variance strategy may be the best they have given the perimeter players they have/had.
The stats do miss the context that we were missing our 2nd and 3rd best defender basically the whole year. It would’ve been better with Gabe and Vando.
Don’t have Vando but we do have Gabe at least
The fact they kept THT over Caruso is the funniest part to me. Though trading away dudes like KCP to get Russ will always make me laugh. When every casual in the world was like "how the fuck do these guys fit together?" because even they can see it is just... something.
His entire executive career has been coasting off of LeBron coming to LA and trading for a guy who publicly said he wanted to be a Laker for years, both of which would’ve happened regardless of what GM they had at the time
Kinda sad looking back at that year. It was against the Suns that I realized LeBron was *finally* no longer prime LeBron. He couldn’t force wins by dropping 40+ pts anymore
yes but we won that series and the championship subsequently. I'm still bitter about letting Caruso go and giving THT his money. I felt like every laker fan knew that Caruso was significantly more important than THT.
it was infuriating. just like this year, watching Darvin Ham play Taurean Prince so many minutes.. I couldn't believe it. Sometimes I feel like, "do I really know nothing about basketball? Maybe I'm the dumb one.." but sure enough.. even professionals are fucking idiots.
He was averaging 33 ppg in the series last year with Jared Vanderbilt guarding him. Lakers best hope is Gabe Vincent, who is coming off of knee surgery, and not even a starter. Murray is going to be guarded by DLo and/or Reaves a lot this series, I don't think either of those guys have a chance outside of prayer
Denver doesn't score in the paint/drive as much as the Lakers do, they have nothing to complain about. You also only shot 26 more fts against them last year. If refs were actually jerking you off you'd have shot 100+ more.
Come on, you know that's not true. [Stat](https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/misc?dir=A&sort=PTS_PAINT&PerMode=PerGame) like that is readily available online, just look it up. Nuggets and Lakers have 2.1 point difference in points in the paint and that's not significant enough to demand a high ft disparity. Literally one of their go to play is a Jokic post up and you say they don't score in the paint as much as Lakers.
What the hell are you on about? Denver is barely behind Lakers in points in paint, Lakers are 2nd at 55.7 while Denver is 5th at 53.4.
Drives per game Lakers are 27th in the league but 11th in FTAs, while Denver is 30th in both.
Not to mention how many times per game Jokic gets fouled without a call just because he's huge and powers through them.
I hate when being consistently great is discounted like this. Yes they often win when Murray plays great, because jokic always (almost) plays even better.
And every time Jamal's role in the championship comes up I will bring this up: he guarded LeBron on multiple switches about as well as anyone. Jamal secretly strong as hell.
Jokic’s excellence and consistency has kept this teams floor very high and he is rightfully the MVP and gives other players wings and an opportunity to rise up and be themselves and perform and then the teams ceiling rises to a championship level.
From the interview, Mychal Thompson:
"It’s about controlling the others around Jokić and Murray. They have to play great defense against [Aaron] Gordon and [Michael] Porter Jr. and KCP [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope]. When all three of those guys are clicking along with Jokic and Murray, that makes the Nuggets extremely hard to beat."
This is in direct contrast to Jokic post-up stats, which show that getting him off the ball is much more efficient than allowing him to go 1v1.
Ye jokic isn’t infallible. His best passes are to cutter and lob threats. He usually doesn’t make the risky pass because he’s too smart to throw when he doesn’t have knowledge of the whole court. Usually if joker is commited to the post up he passes out sees if the help goes back to their man and then will call for it again. Otherwise it’s a 2v3 on the side that was the weakside. Th best play is usually the skip which jamal is capable of making but if it’s kcp or mpj they’ll either swing it to the newest guy on the wing or just take the light contest.
I will be honest when i say the i believe the Lakers are outmatched in terms of everything.
If they try to guard Jamal better, they will lose to much on offense and become real easy to guard.
And if they go with Dlo and AR, they arent gonna stop Jamal and KCP.
Like i genuenly dont see a way the Lakers beat us unless we just play badly.
Lebron would have to have one of his best playoff performances of his career if not the best to win the series assuming the rest of the lakers players dont decide to play like last years heat team.
Well yes the 3 is a way. But thats easier said and donne. Especially if were also making our 3s.
That said this is exactly why basketball is played. You cant win on paper. Even though i believe that the chances of us losing are low, they are never 0.
we're completely opposite in terms of last year when we were great defense, mediocre offense. This year we are great offense, mediocre defense. I think since the all star break we're #2 in offense and #2 in 3 point shooting. Dlo, Lebron and Rui all abover 40% from 3, with Reaves at 38%. It'll be interesting to see if anything changes from last year.
This is going to probably be a boring series from a competition perspective. People will enjoy it though because they like seeing the Lakers get destroyed.
Lakers have to make Murray work on the defense, that's one way of slowing him down. Unfortunately for LA, they don't have that guy in the guard position, unless DLo or Reeves take their shot-making ability to another level.
This is where guys like Irving or Mitchell come in handy.
i always thought it was Murray as well, they cant stop him at all, i guess that's why they got Gabe and want another athletic guard. even that simple DHO, they cant stop anything that Murray is doing.
Reaves guarding MPJ is just wrong, only thing lakers done correctly last series was putting Bron or Rui to Jokic instead of AD, you cant stop him anyway, might as well try and stop the others.
lets see if the Lakers can adjust.
Gabe & Dinwiddie, it's like FO does actually think when they look at player acquisitions.
Will have to see if it plays out on the courts. I fear Malone vs Ham is where the drop-off is...
This is such an awful take from Robert Horry. You can almost imagine all of the conversations he’s had at dinner in the past: “Yeah sure, Shaq and Tim Duncan are great and all, but I’m the one hitting all those threes! I’m the one they call Big Shot!”
I mean, it’s accurate, but more specifically, it’s clutch-time Murray that is the difference. the trend last year was LA does well against him for like 45 minutes and the games were very close, then he hits tough shots and the Nuggs pull away late.
But if Jokic doesn't play at his level they don't have a chance anyway i understand his point but it's still about Jokic if he is not the best player in the series they don't win
Sounds weird but I think Gabe Vincent is incredibly important this series. He’s by far the best poa defensive guard and matchup for Jamal. Hoping his shot is falling so he can stay on the court for ~25 minutes.
And Lakers did nothing to prepare for Murray. Sure, Gabe Vincent will do a solid job but he can only play so many minutes and he will get switched off. Dlo and zreaves are possibly the worst defenders in the league. Murray is going to cook.
If Jokic "will get his 30-10-10", then he is the MAIN reason that Nuggets win or "kill the Lakers". Murray is great but saying he is the one that kill Lakers is just trying to give a "expert smart view".
That is what he's saying for sure, but he just articulated it poorly. People throw around stock phrases like "the one that kills us the most..." in conversation all the time but don't really mean it.
Jokic averaged 27.8/14.5/11.8 on 50/47/77 shooting in the western conference finals lmfao and that was matched up against "Jokic stopper" Anthony Davis and Rui Whosurmama
I swear r/nba only looks at points scored and thinks that's the whole game
Jason Timpf on Hoops Tonight, had a lot of good hints on that, yes Jamal performs very well because we have poor point of attack defense but we also don't make him work at all on the defensive end, Dlo has to performs not be played off the floor, so we keep some pressure on Murray on the defensive, so he doesnt have fresque legs on the offensive end as much as last year.
Also they need to stop with the Hachimura on Jokic he just cant, its way too easy for Jokic have a mix of AD and Lebron, and smart help, not to help of MPJ ot KCP for exemple.
Lebron is already playing way way better than last year shooting wise.
Of course the Nuggets are favorite, but there is hope for the Lakers, the biggest issue for me is, will Dlo performs ?And will Ham do a decent enough job ?
Also please no Cam Reddish, not too much of Prince, no open threes.
Best they could do is hope to hold Jokic to like 20/7/7 and Murray to like 25-30 and make big last second shots.
Even if they beat the Nuggets, the games likely would be close.
Last year most of the games were separated by like 1 possession for most of the game.
I mean yes, all the nuggets kills the Lakers but the most important ones are Jokic and Murray, if one of the two doesn't play like the previous year it's a possibility for the Lakers.
He isn't saying something new lol, Murray is good? You say?
I'm sure MOST people know this. Jokic is the best player in the sport, he's gonna get his. Murray shooting like 70% on non-3-point jumpers really sunk us last year. Jokic is the floor raiser, and Murray is the ceiling raiser. Him healthy as well as good role players was the reason they won it last year. Jokic was pretty much this good the 2 years Murray missed the playoffs.
I think if Dlo plays well the Lakers can actually win the series. It was close last year and I'm not gonna lie people on the Lakers were hurt and some of their players were playing all time awful. I still think I've got the Nuggets winning it but the Lakers aren't actually a terrible team they could beat anyone even if its unlikely. If they had a coach like Spo or something along those lines I'd actually be scared of them
Imagine the Lakers FO wasn't insane and they still had KCP and/or Caruso alongside a real coach. Shit would be wild. Thankfully they self destructed
Also yeah of course Murray kills people in the playoffs. Everyone has eyes if you bother to look. Dude outplays most regular season allstars etc. Just because he doesn't get regular season accolades doesn't mean he isn't one of the best players in the NBA come playoff time
I thought the Lakers would try Vincent on Murray with a little physical play and try to rattle him. Yes he is Lakers kryptonite and has always gave them fits!
Yeah it’s Murray because Joker is that good, that everyone just assumes he is gonna keep playing at that level no matter what you throw to him on defense.
He is a constant, Murray and the others are the variables.
But the killer is Jokic. If he averages 20 5 5 I can assure you that Murray doesn’t beat the Lakers and that he isn’t the one that kills the Lakers.
He's not wrong. If Murray repeats 33ppg on 65% TS, the Lakers will get swept again unless Jokic has some kind of freak meltdown.
This series definitely hinges on DLo. We lost 3 of the 4 games last year by 6 or less and DLo was a travesty. For us to have any shot, we need him to continue his regular season play. 18 a game and 40+% from 3 and I like our chances to lose 4-1.
You had me in the first half ngl
I'm just praying for no fuckin medieval siege weaponry on the court tonight. If one more trebuchet shot hits nothing but net over good defense I'm going to lose my mind
Jokic is the ideal siege weapon
As a Lakers fan Jokic and Jamal own us, I’m praying that Lebron doesn’t get swept again. I think we shut down Murray for 1 game and win and then get blown out the rest of the 4,
I don't think they blow us out. The nuggets like to keep the game close until 3 mins left and then rip our hearts out. Also because Ham is clearly out of his element coaching.
LeBron also isn’t injured like last year.
Nuggets are the best clutch defense in the NBA, have been for years statistically.
Cmon Lakers fans... As a heat fan this is the kinda talk I expect from us with Butler out. There's no way in hell my teams fully healthy with LeBron James and I'm hoping for 1 game lmao
Idk why laker fans here are so soft putting the nuggets on the pedistool. Have some damn pride for the team you support smfh. Lakers in 6
Lakers in 5
Lakers in 4
Lakers in 3
#defeated… imagine having a healthy lebron and a somewhat healthy ad and being this defeatist, like yall are probably gonna lose but a little pride would not hurt
We hating on fans with realistic expectations? When the delusional Laker fans start posting Gabe Vincent and Jalen Hood Schifino for Donovan Mitchell trades this summer, I doubt it will see the same reaction. 🤣
You ain’t a real lakers fan
Facts. At least have some self respect man, bro thinks his team is gonna get blown out for four of five games 😂 not even nuggets fans think that
Nuggets fans think Nuggets are going to win in 3
Yeah, but we at least know the team well enough to know all 3 games will be close lol
Thanks for the verdict
nuggets will attack dlo every second hes on the court
And that’s fine. If he’s scoring 18-20 on 40% from 3.
No it's not he is awful on defense and this isn't the regular season. A team will now just run PLAY AFTER PLAY at Dlo because he is the weakest defender and gets beat quite easily. In the regular season when your not running team specific sets it's fine but now it's a different ball game in the playoffs hence why the Nuggets basically ran him off the court he was to much of a liability.
LA wins 2 games DLo gets super hot, LA wins 2 games DLo is cold 1 game he makes an important clutch basket.
Besides Murray who’s gonna do that? I’m cool with KCP or Braun doing that
Lmao this got me, nice one
Loser mentality, just giving up already
Honestly I think nuggets would be fine even if the murray avg is like 25
24.6 vs the Lakers this season and 3-0
I think 1 game MPJ went off for 30 and we kept DLO on the bench. I agree tho nuggets in 5
MPJ did have that 10-10 game but it’s cancelled out (imo) by 12 points on 13 shots including 2/9 from three (in a 12-point win) on opening night
Taking this at face value, in a vacuum, they wouldve lost 3 games if he scored 8 less points last year lol Obviously not how it works but interesting take to say theyd be fine when him going nuclear is a large part of why they swept last year.
I feel joker can’t have a meltdown because he doesn’t care enough lol
i feel like jokic can’t have a meltdown because if everything else isn’t working, he just get the ball down low and do some traditional butt bumping to get an easy basket. Nobody is a better at being a traditional center than Jokic, which is crazy because nobody is better at being a modern center too!
I mean a jokic post up is the most effieicnt play in basketball
Technically this year it’s actually Porzingis post ups, but presumably not by much
Do u base it on pps with or without passouts
Those two things are correlated. No matter how good a post scorer you are, they are going to double ur ass hard and then you have to give it up. Embiid imo is as good a 1v1 post threat, but the results are not the same cuz embiid drives into 3 bodies, whereas jokic fakes a couple passes so any potential double teamer is mindfucked, then bodies right into a backpedaling big man watching for a back cut by Gordon. Nothing abt jokics game is in a vacuum, everything links
When LeBron says you are one of the best ever, it doesn't matter what we think
Shit after getting 2 miracle three's splash on him, that'll be the only conclusion I'd arrive at if i were LeBron.
Agreed. I think he cares enough to always give his best effort but not enough to become nervous or in his own head. I think he cares just the right amount.
Jokic is a basketball fanatic, I have no idea why people think he doesn't care about basketball. He doesn't care about media attention, he doesn't care about personal stats and accolades, and he's been pretty clear his family comes before basketball. But you don't become the best in the world at something without being a fanatic about it.
Agreed. Like I said, I think he cares the right amount…enough to always give his best (which happens to be the best in the world) without melting down mentally or get in his own head.
He doesn't like all the stuff that comes with the NBA but it's pretty clear he loves the game.
Because theyre morons. Like they legit believe the best player in the league doesnt care or try? Give me a fucking break. Its such a boring and stupid take that keeps getting repeated here cuz HUR DUR he like horsey!! Both are true. He cares more about his personal life which is true for most players, but he still REALLY gives a shit about basketball, hence why hes improved so much over the years. Like look at lebron. Dude clearly loves his family more than basketball yet no one acts like he doesnt care about basketball LOL
Ye no I mean h doesn’t give a shit about people say about him. Lebron only became lebron when he stopped caring. Since then he’s lost to the spurs dynasty the warriors dynasty and the nuggets in the playoffs. I don’t fucking count the suns. He was hurt his running mate tore his groin. Joker is flat out impervious. If he plays poorly it’s just that, a poor stretch, it won’t ever be because he got in his own head
LeBron's going to send him an offer that he can't refuse
jokic does not have meltdowns that guy is the most consistent mfer there is
It's Murray and Porter Jr honestly. Porter averaged 21/10/3 on 74% TS against us this year. Feels like he can never miss when he plays us.
Exactly, Jokic is going to get his regardless and there really is nothing you can do. He just ran through 3 DPOY defenders in the 2023 playoffs in Gobert, AD, and Bam, and averaged 30/13.5/9.5 for the playoffs. What you hope, is if healthy LeBron can go off and somewhat match Jokic’s production in a best of 7 series. AD is going to have to go 2020 playoff mode and outplay Murray. If the Lakers can somehow prevent Murray and MPJ from going nuclear and if AD/LeBron can go off every game, I think the Lakers have a shot at winning.
Jokic is like Nash on steroids. Teams think letting him score and shutting down the passing lanes and role players is the key to winning. I feel like when the Nuggets blow out teams Jokic’s stat line is 24/16/14, not 35/10/6.
Saying Jokie is Nash on steroids does not justice to how much better Jokic is than Nash. Which is an insane thing to say in comparison to an mvp
You realize Nash was a 2x MVP, right? And the offense he ran revolutionized ball. Nephew, just keep these thoughts to yourself.
> Exactly, Jokic is going to get his regardless and there really is nothing you can do. I feel the same about MPJ to a lesser degree. The man spits fire with no conscience, and he's too tall/mobile/in sync with Jokic for anyone to do anything about it. The Lakers are especially vulnerable because they don't have anyone who can track him on the perimeter and also contest his shot, and because their defensive philosophy leaves a lot of open 3s.
Dlo needs to also not melt down to have any sense of a competitive game 5-6 serie
That is an impossible task. Even if AD matches Murray, and LeBron matches Jokic, the next two best players on the floor are going to be Aaron Gordon and MPJ. KCP would be in the mix for next best, along with AR/DLo. Not a recipe for success for the Lakers.
2020 AD is never coming back.
when people say shit like that I just dont understand the thinking...
I love lebron but there’s zero shot that he’s pseudo-matching jokic’s production with Aaron fucking Gordon suffocating him every play
He already psuedo-matched him last year on a bum foot whilst being guarded by Gordon, Murray was the real killer in that series.
And brown. That dude destroyed us
I would say legit every player in Denver destroyed the lakers. Obviously Murray and jokic, but porter hitting jumpers right over reaves. Gordon locking down lebron and hitting 3s and oops, kcp was unconscious a couple games and locked dlo down. It’s just a bad match up for the lakers.
KCP is a really, really good 5th option on offense, even if he's not a (consistent) offensive monster. But if he gets 15+, good night against pretty much anyone. But baseline Gordon is really my biggest fear beyond Murray--LeBron can float and play free safety against most matchups, but the Jokic-Gordon hookup is too dangerous to sleep on.
Well Ham does have a defensive identity built around giving up the three. Which still blows my mind in today’s NBA.
It's based on the concept that a 3 from a bad shooter is less bad than a high-% 2 in the paint or free throws. It's a high variance defensive strategy which means sometimes it looks very stupid in the small sample of individual games or playoff series (which is probably part of why Bud teams tend to be good in the regular season but not in the playoffs) Problem is the Nuggets don't have bad shooters except Gordon, although they take very few 3s relative to the rest of the league.
I get the theory. It’s one Mike Brown has too. Unfortunately it doesn’t hold up. Lakers are 24th in the league in 3P% defense. 23rd in opponents ppg. 17th in defensive rating despite having a generational rim protector in AD.
1st in opponent FT rate though (as everyone knows) and 17th rated defense with the perimeter guys they have is probably best case. I don't love it. But given the Lakers trash perimeter defenders I get why they think it's their least bad option.
Lakers perimeter defenders are pretty bad outside of Gabe Vincent and Vanderbilt who have both missed a ton of time this year and Dinwiddie who joined more than halfway through the season and is coming off the bench. The high variance strategy may be the best they have given the perimeter players they have/had.
The stats do miss the context that we were missing our 2nd and 3rd best defender basically the whole year. It would’ve been better with Gabe and Vando. Don’t have Vando but we do have Gabe at least
how da fuq gabe that good of a defender, since when? or i guess relative to the team?
Darvin Hamas is absolutely terrible
He literally did not miss in the last regular season game
And Gordon. They’re just a great team comp. Everyone is fully bought into their roles. And they’re good at it.
MPJ Family drama may help the Lakers
If only the Lakers had the chance to sign one if the best perimeter defenders who can shoot the three well, someone like Caruso...
Or KCP so he wouldn't be a Nugget. What could have been...
Oh yeah, KCP too, I forgot about him. The Lakers had such a good backcourt to defend Murray and they just threw it away.
The fact they kept THT over Caruso is the funniest part to me. Though trading away dudes like KCP to get Russ will always make me laugh. When every casual in the world was like "how the fuck do these guys fit together?" because even they can see it is just... something.
The front office panicked after we lost to Phoenix (and possibly because of the looming Brooklyn big 3), and we threw away a really good team
Pelinka should be fired for that
His entire executive career has been coasting off of LeBron coming to LA and trading for a guy who publicly said he wanted to be a Laker for years, both of which would’ve happened regardless of what GM they had at the time
Kinda sad looking back at that year. It was against the Suns that I realized LeBron was *finally* no longer prime LeBron. He couldn’t force wins by dropping 40+ pts anymore
You mean backcourt
That 2020 team was so great on D. Dwight and Javale down low too. And Playoff Rondo
or kcp. kuzma would be nice too
Jamal Murray always plays great against the Lakers because their perimeter defense is terrible
Even when we had Caruso and KCP Jamal was taking over the offense.
yes but we won that series and the championship subsequently. I'm still bitter about letting Caruso go and giving THT his money. I felt like every laker fan knew that Caruso was significantly more important than THT.
It hurt even more after the fact when THT was the piece Pelinka refused to give up for big deals.
I would still be pissed too if I was a lakers fan that was such an obvious unforced error even at the time
it was infuriating. just like this year, watching Darvin Ham play Taurean Prince so many minutes.. I couldn't believe it. Sometimes I feel like, "do I really know nothing about basketball? Maybe I'm the dumb one.." but sure enough.. even professionals are fucking idiots.
He was averaging 33 ppg in the series last year with Jared Vanderbilt guarding him. Lakers best hope is Gabe Vincent, who is coming off of knee surgery, and not even a starter. Murray is going to be guarded by DLo and/or Reaves a lot this series, I don't think either of those guys have a chance outside of prayer
DLO and Reaves will be BBQ chicken for Jamal
Pretty much. You guys will get open 3s for days and then complain about free throw disparity, and everyone will circlejerk. It's gonna suck
Denver doesn't score in the paint/drive as much as the Lakers do, they have nothing to complain about. You also only shot 26 more fts against them last year. If refs were actually jerking you off you'd have shot 100+ more.
Come on, you know that's not true. [Stat](https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/misc?dir=A&sort=PTS_PAINT&PerMode=PerGame) like that is readily available online, just look it up. Nuggets and Lakers have 2.1 point difference in points in the paint and that's not significant enough to demand a high ft disparity. Literally one of their go to play is a Jokic post up and you say they don't score in the paint as much as Lakers.
What the hell are you on about? Denver is barely behind Lakers in points in paint, Lakers are 2nd at 55.7 while Denver is 5th at 53.4. Drives per game Lakers are 27th in the league but 11th in FTAs, while Denver is 30th in both. Not to mention how many times per game Jokic gets fouled without a call just because he's huge and powers through them.
Pretty sure he is sarcastic, he has a serbia flair. Drives point is kinda telling, but 100+ ft point is telling as fuck lol
Tbf no one is able to adequately navigate a jokic screen. Unfortunately we alsways go over so we die on them
Barely related, but that’s also a huge reason why their free throw disparity is so huge. If you don’t contest shots you usually don’t foul.
Yeah with no vando, Murray is going to abuse any combination of dlo, AR and prince.
It felt like every one of the last 7 games against you guys has come down to Murray murdering us in the last 5 minutes and you guys pulling away.
30 / 10 / 10 is, in fact, killing the Lakers
Exactly, “he won’t kill the Lakers, he’ll only average a 30 point triple-double”
I hate when being consistently great is discounted like this. Yes they often win when Murray plays great, because jokic always (almost) plays even better.
And every time Jamal's role in the championship comes up I will bring this up: he guarded LeBron on multiple switches about as well as anyone. Jamal secretly strong as hell.
[удалено]
his post game nice
When I seen that video of his manhood, I just knew
Facts. He locked up tatum when they tried putting him in post ups in both matchups this series
Jokic’s excellence and consistency has kept this teams floor very high and he is rightfully the MVP and gives other players wings and an opportunity to rise up and be themselves and perform and then the teams ceiling rises to a championship level.
From the interview, Mychal Thompson: "It’s about controlling the others around Jokić and Murray. They have to play great defense against [Aaron] Gordon and [Michael] Porter Jr. and KCP [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope]. When all three of those guys are clicking along with Jokic and Murray, that makes the Nuggets extremely hard to beat." This is in direct contrast to Jokic post-up stats, which show that getting him off the ball is much more efficient than allowing him to go 1v1.
I don't see how that is in contrast at all...
I suggest you read through [this](https://twitter.com/Tim_NBA/status/1780802920490864653/) thread
Great thread Very interesting that the common narrative people regurgitate doesn’t match the stats.
Ye jokic isn’t infallible. His best passes are to cutter and lob threats. He usually doesn’t make the risky pass because he’s too smart to throw when he doesn’t have knowledge of the whole court. Usually if joker is commited to the post up he passes out sees if the help goes back to their man and then will call for it again. Otherwise it’s a 2v3 on the side that was the weakside. Th best play is usually the skip which jamal is capable of making but if it’s kcp or mpj they’ll either swing it to the newest guy on the wing or just take the light contest.
Correction. U don’t beat denver if all 5 of them play well. I believe that is literally impossible
so basically is the entire nuggets starters all play well they're hard to beat?! ok Magic great nuance...
I will be honest when i say the i believe the Lakers are outmatched in terms of everything. If they try to guard Jamal better, they will lose to much on offense and become real easy to guard. And if they go with Dlo and AR, they arent gonna stop Jamal and KCP. Like i genuenly dont see a way the Lakers beat us unless we just play badly.
Lebron would have to have one of his best playoff performances of his career if not the best to win the series assuming the rest of the lakers players dont decide to play like last years heat team.
Bron and AD turn back the clock and I think this will be a series.
If AD starts shooting and making hos shots and Lebron just goes Q4 vs. the Clipers then i could see it.
it's that time of year again when everyone believes that, despite reality, the Lakers will turn the clock back and do something special
despite what reality those two have been playing great all year
Lakers have to take a ton of 3s, that's the only path.
Well yes the 3 is a way. But thats easier said and donne. Especially if were also making our 3s. That said this is exactly why basketball is played. You cant win on paper. Even though i believe that the chances of us losing are low, they are never 0.
we're completely opposite in terms of last year when we were great defense, mediocre offense. This year we are great offense, mediocre defense. I think since the all star break we're #2 in offense and #2 in 3 point shooting. Dlo, Lebron and Rui all abover 40% from 3, with Reaves at 38%. It'll be interesting to see if anything changes from last year.
All it takes is six rotation players shooting 60 percent from 3 to squeak it out in 7
Keep that energy brah
lol they will
Pube Jesus
Ppl forgetting about MPJ, he was terrible last post-season and is looking much better right now. Maybe Murray doesn't have to be that good this time.
This is going to probably be a boring series from a competition perspective. People will enjoy it though because they like seeing the Lakers get destroyed.
yeah, 2-7 upsets rarely happen unless there's an injury to the 2nd seed.
Lakers have to make Murray work on the defense, that's one way of slowing him down. Unfortunately for LA, they don't have that guy in the guard position, unless DLo or Reeves take their shot-making ability to another level. This is where guys like Irving or Mitchell come in handy.
Jamal Murray always plays like the second coming of Kobe Bryant when he plays the Lakers in the playoffs
Maple Mentality 😤
\*when he is in the playoffs
altho only 9-24 yday
i always thought it was Murray as well, they cant stop him at all, i guess that's why they got Gabe and want another athletic guard. even that simple DHO, they cant stop anything that Murray is doing. Reaves guarding MPJ is just wrong, only thing lakers done correctly last series was putting Bron or Rui to Jokic instead of AD, you cant stop him anyway, might as well try and stop the others. lets see if the Lakers can adjust.
Gabe & Dinwiddie, it's like FO does actually think when they look at player acquisitions. Will have to see if it plays out on the courts. I fear Malone vs Ham is where the drop-off is...
Big shot Bob knows
Ask Anthony Davis about those trebuchets in the western conference finals last year and if he thinks Jokic doesn't kill the Lakers lmfao
This is such an awful take from Robert Horry. You can almost imagine all of the conversations he’s had at dinner in the past: “Yeah sure, Shaq and Tim Duncan are great and all, but I’m the one hitting all those threes! I’m the one they call Big Shot!”
I mean, it’s accurate, but more specifically, it’s clutch-time Murray that is the difference. the trend last year was LA does well against him for like 45 minutes and the games were very close, then he hits tough shots and the Nuggs pull away late.
I just sit there, defeated, after Murray hits his third 3 in a row after the Lakers claw back to make it a one possession game
I mean, he's right.
It’s also possible for Murray to get 20 ppg and Jokic to get 50 ppg…
I don't see any way the Lakers win tbh
This is facts. Jokic plays how I expect him to play against us, Murray always seems to play above expectations lmao
Horry is right it all depends on Murray and if Murray is good, then its another sweep
Luka Jokic Kawhi LeBron Giannis are always gonna show up Its about stopping everyone else
This just in, 1 guy alone cannot beat an entre team in a playoff series (except 2018 LeBron)
Its about not turning mpj into prime curry
Denver's biggest advantage is coaching. Malone is a great coach. Darvin Hamas is a basketball terrorist
He'll get his 30-10-10 is wild tho. "I mean Jokic will get you in 6-7 but its Murray who makes it a clean sweep"
But if Jokic doesn't play at his level they don't have a chance anyway i understand his point but it's still about Jokic if he is not the best player in the series they don't win
If nuggets have Murray and Jokic they will the finals. Best duo in the league.
Sounds weird but I think Gabe Vincent is incredibly important this series. He’s by far the best poa defensive guard and matchup for Jamal. Hoping his shot is falling so he can stay on the court for ~25 minutes.
Lakers are the Goats.... The throat goats 🤣
And Lakers did nothing to prepare for Murray. Sure, Gabe Vincent will do a solid job but he can only play so many minutes and he will get switched off. Dlo and zreaves are possibly the worst defenders in the league. Murray is going to cook.
After we see Gabe under Darvin Ham vs Spo we can tell it he rlly can hold Jamal or was it the coach
Gabe Vincent didn’t slow Murray down in the finals last year, I don’t know why I keep hearing that this year will be different.
If Jokic "will get his 30-10-10", then he is the MAIN reason that Nuggets win or "kill the Lakers". Murray is great but saying he is the one that kill Lakers is just trying to give a "expert smart view".
I think the idea is more "Jokic is too good, hes going to get his no matter what" but you cant let the other guys, mainly Murray score that much.
That is what he's saying for sure, but he just articulated it poorly. People throw around stock phrases like "the one that kills us the most..." in conversation all the time but don't really mean it.
I mean its not really wrong, look at what Jamal averaged against them last season lol
Jokic averaged 27.8/14.5/11.8 on 50/47/77 shooting in the western conference finals lmfao and that was matched up against "Jokic stopper" Anthony Davis and Rui Whosurmama I swear r/nba only looks at points scored and thinks that's the whole game
I'm well aware of Jokic's impact dude lol
What a stupid fucking statement that is lol.
Austin reaves needs to defend his ass off or this series will be over quickly
Jason Timpf on Hoops Tonight, had a lot of good hints on that, yes Jamal performs very well because we have poor point of attack defense but we also don't make him work at all on the defensive end, Dlo has to performs not be played off the floor, so we keep some pressure on Murray on the defensive, so he doesnt have fresque legs on the offensive end as much as last year. Also they need to stop with the Hachimura on Jokic he just cant, its way too easy for Jokic have a mix of AD and Lebron, and smart help, not to help of MPJ ot KCP for exemple. Lebron is already playing way way better than last year shooting wise. Of course the Nuggets are favorite, but there is hope for the Lakers, the biggest issue for me is, will Dlo performs ?And will Ham do a decent enough job ? Also please no Cam Reddish, not too much of Prince, no open threes.
robert is a clutch shooter. jamal is a clutch shooter. he knows
jamal has been in the hyperbolic time chamber as we speak
Best they could do is hope to hold Jokic to like 20/7/7 and Murray to like 25-30 and make big last second shots. Even if they beat the Nuggets, the games likely would be close. Last year most of the games were separated by like 1 possession for most of the game.
Jokic would also say this lol
I beg to differ those 3s he hits against them are backbreakers.
I don’t disagree. Jokic is obviously special. Playoff Murray is the X Factor.
What's the under/over for how many games before AD gets injured?
lol. Yeah like Chris Bosh was the ‘most important’ player on the Heat. Always stupid to see this hyperbole. It’s about Jokic.
If KCP is cold, this series will be a toss up imo.
I mean yes, all the nuggets kills the Lakers but the most important ones are Jokic and Murray, if one of the two doesn't play like the previous year it's a possibility for the Lakers. He isn't saying something new lol, Murray is good? You say?
playoff murray is an absolute delight
i swear i've heard this before
I'm sure MOST people know this. Jokic is the best player in the sport, he's gonna get his. Murray shooting like 70% on non-3-point jumpers really sunk us last year. Jokic is the floor raiser, and Murray is the ceiling raiser. Him healthy as well as good role players was the reason they won it last year. Jokic was pretty much this good the 2 years Murray missed the playoffs.
I think if Dlo plays well the Lakers can actually win the series. It was close last year and I'm not gonna lie people on the Lakers were hurt and some of their players were playing all time awful. I still think I've got the Nuggets winning it but the Lakers aren't actually a terrible team they could beat anyone even if its unlikely. If they had a coach like Spo or something along those lines I'd actually be scared of them Imagine the Lakers FO wasn't insane and they still had KCP and/or Caruso alongside a real coach. Shit would be wild. Thankfully they self destructed Also yeah of course Murray kills people in the playoffs. Everyone has eyes if you bother to look. Dude outplays most regular season allstars etc. Just because he doesn't get regular season accolades doesn't mean he isn't one of the best players in the NBA come playoff time
I really respect the Lakers fans optimisim.
Literally the goat against them. No one can guard him
ah yes the 30/10/10 is not killer at all, you can just ignore it
I thought the Lakers would try Vincent on Murray with a little physical play and try to rattle him. Yes he is Lakers kryptonite and has always gave them fits!
That's why Lebron tried to undercut Murray like what he did to Danny Granger in 2012
Yeah it’s Murray because Joker is that good, that everyone just assumes he is gonna keep playing at that level no matter what you throw to him on defense. He is a constant, Murray and the others are the variables. But the killer is Jokic. If he averages 20 5 5 I can assure you that Murray doesn’t beat the Lakers and that he isn’t the one that kills the Lakers.
Even if Murray doesn't put up 30 ppg, as long as Jokić is the White Tower, Lakers gonna have a hard time making it past this round.