Nuggets Make Yet Another Second Half Comeback, Take 3-0 Series Lead Versus the Lakers
For the third straight game, the L.A. Lakers built a double digit first half lead versus the Denver Nuggets--and for the 11th straight game, the Nuggets beat the L.A. Lakers. The Nuggets' 112-105 victory gives them a commanding 3-0 series lead, and that is the death knell in the NBA playoffs: 151 NBA teams have been down 3-0 in a playoff series prior to this series, and no team has ever come back from that deficit to win the series.
Aaron Gordon led Denver with a team-high 29 points on 12-18 field goal shooting, and he tied for game-high honors with 15 rebounds. Nikola Jokic filled up the boxscore with 24 points on 9-13 field goal shooting, 15 rebounds, and nine assists. Jamal Murray, who nailed the game-winning buzzer beater in the previous game, scored 22 points and dished for nine assists. Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Anthony Davis scored a game-high 33 points on 14-23 field goal shooting, and he grabbed 15 rebounds, but he once again faded down the stretch, posting three points on 1-3 field goal shooting in the fourth quarter. LeBron James had 26 points on 12-20 field goal shooting plus nine assists and six rebounds. Austin Reaves added 22 points, but no other Laker scored more than eight points.
Watching the Lakers consistently struggle with lagging second half
energy and an inability to generate enough easy baskets, it is clear that the
Lakers could use a high energy point guard who plays hard and pushes the
pace. Russell Westbrook would be a great fit! Oh, wait--last season the Lakers traded Westbrook for Malik Beasley, D'Angelo Russell, and Jarred Vanderbilt.
How much did that "tremendous trio" contribute for the Lakers in
Thursday night's do or die game three? Beasley is no longer with the
Lakers after averaging 3.0 ppg on .294 field goal shooting for the
Lakers in the 2023 playoffs. Vanderbilt averaged 4.6 ppg on .400 field
goal shooting for the Lakers in the 2023 playoffs, played just 29
regular season games for the Lakers in 2023-24, and he has yet to play
in the 2024 playoffs due to injury. Russell shot 0-7 from the field
and did not score a point. Yes, the Lakers quite literally gave up a future Hall of Fame point guard for nothing--the three players who the Lakers acquired in the Westbrook trade did not score a single point for the Lakers in game three. I said it when the Lakers traded Westbrook, I said it during the Lakers' fluky run to the 2023 Western Conference Finals, and I will say it again now: getting rid of Westbrook did bring the Lakers closer to being a legit contender, and it did not position the Lakers very well for the post-LeBron James era, either.
After game three, TNT's Charles Barkley said that he had expected this to be a competitive series and he is surprised by the way that the Nuggets have taken the Lakers's heart. I am not surprised. I picked the Nuggets to win this series in five games because I knew that, when it matters most, Jokic will outplay James and Davis not only individually but by bringing out the best in his teammates--and Jokic will do so without any complaining or drama.
It is quite telling that during the first half--when the Lakers had the lead--you could see Davis shaking his head in disgust after a Nuggets' score. It is obvious that deep down the Lakers do not trust each other, and do not believe that they can beat the Nuggets.
The only thing more inevitable than Denver winning this series is that General Manager/Coach/Player President LeBron James will receive little to no criticism for the Lakers' desultory performance not only in this series but for most of his L.A. tenure. James and Davis will always have the "bubble" championship and the inaugural NBA Cup title--but they also have three Play-In Tournament appearances, one first round loss (soon to be two), and one season during which they did not even qualify for the Play-In Tournament. Unless the Lakers make a miraculous and unprecedented comeback versus Denver, the Lakers will have failed to advance past the first round in three of the five seasons that James and Davis--two members of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team--played together.
As I write these words, rest assured that James' buddies in the media are working on their stories detailing how the Lakers' failures should be blamed on Coach Darvin Ham. Davis already planted that seed after game two by stating that the Lakers' problem is that they are disorganized, and that seed is going to quickly blossom into a California redwood after the Nuggets put the Lakers out of their misery. Pay no attention to James' stat-padding, Davis' second half disappearing acts, or the numerous teammates and coaches that James has thrown under the bus--these Lakers may be the first team in NBA history that fails to meet expectations without the two best players receiving much blame, which is particularly odd considering that James not only dominates the ball but he also without question has played a major role in the team's roster construction.
Labels: Anthony Davis, Denver Nuggets, Jamal Murray, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic
posted by David Friedman @ 2:17 AM
7 Comments:
Jokic is quickly moving into some uncomfortable conversations if he keeps this up, and this includes conversations about who is better between him and the so-called "2nd greatest player ever" that he is probably going to end up 9-4 or 9-5 against in the playoffs
Nuggets are a great team but I am not convinced that they are any better than the teams Mike and Kobe torched in their heydey, any time LeBron sees a team like that his supporters are in shock. Were they expecting the DeRozan Raptors or Paul George Pacers?? For most of this century the Western Conference has been loaded with contenders instead of just 1-2 like the East this century
But also, no one was calling this Nuggets team a juggarnaut when Durant and his Suns went 6 with them, I remember people mocking him like the Nuggets weren't the first seed, but then LeBron and his Lakers gets swept and suddenly the discourse is that we are witnessing some top 5-10 team ever
Personally I hope the Lakers move on from the LeBron/AD era, other than a championship where a lot of things went in the Lakers favor it has been a massive failure
Hi David,
Appreciate your recaps. You're spot on with a lot of what you've written here. But, as much of a Westbrook fan as I am, D'Angelo Russell and Vanderbilt are better for this team than Westbrook would have been -- mostly because of James. Russell fills a dire outside shooting need (crazy streaky as he is) and Vanderbilt fills the elite wing defender role. Westbrook can't shine with Lebron James. Now, replacing James with Westbrook? I actually think the Lakers would be better.
The team plays so much better without Lebron. Everyone is engaged and active on defense. They actually cover for each other. The ball moves on offense. Putting the ball in D'Lo and Reaves' hands helps them get going. When Lebron "takes control of the offense", everyone is relegated to standing around. AD included. The reason Dlo went 0-fer last night is, yes, he's crazy streaky, but he didn't have the ball enough. In game 2, he was allowed to hunt shots and work some two-man game with AD. He didn't get that last night.
(Side note: Now, I'm not saying the Lakers would have won or anything, DLo is who he is, but despite his claims of being a basketball genius, Lebron has zero clue how to correctly utilize the talent on his team. And before anyone comes in here saying that's the coach's job, look at the difference in how the team plays with Lebron and without him...Ham has his issues for sure (bad at in-game adjustments, needs work on timeout management) but he's not a terrible coach -- he just has an uncoachable star player unwilling to change or buy-in)
Not only has Lebron become a non-existent defender (he's given more effort this series), not only does he grind the offense to a literal standstill when he decides to "take over" or statpad, or narrative build (however you'd like to describe his offense nowadays), but he has the most toxic body language I've ever seen from any star player that has put on the purple and gold. Not only does he trash his teammates, but he completely ignores Ham, argues and screams at the refs, AND last night he was hanging his head on the bench like he was about to get reprimanded by his mommy).
I hope the Lakers get swept -- and Lebron seeks "greener pastures". I do honestly think the Lakers are a player away from contending. They just need to replace Lebron with an all-star caliber player (someone like Paul George) who buys into playing team-oriented basketball.
The team is deep and talented, but they are held captive by a narrative controlling narcissist who disappears in critical moments and doesn't have a winning mentality despite putting up efficient numbers.
Jordan:
Thank you!
As noted in my article, the three players who the Lakers acquired for Westbrook combined to score zero points in yesterday's game three, so I disagree with any suggestion that those players fit better or are better in any way than Westbrook. The Lakers did not utilize Westbrook correctly and turned him into a scapegoat, and then they compounded their mistake by trading him for a bunch of role players.
I would wager that DLo will never be a rotation player for a consistently winning team. Vandberbilt is so valuable that he has played for four teams in five seasons. The Lakers benched him in game four versus Denver last year, and he has been hurt for most of this season. As I said to you in another thread, he is Randy Brown at best (no disrespect intended to the former Bull), and certainly not some kind of indispensable player.
The Lakers' problems revolve around James being more interested in stat padding and narrative crafting than winning. He seems to have determined that breaking Kareem's record is more important for his legacy than winning a fifth title. A secondary problem for the Lakers is that Davis--James' handpicked sidekick--is talented but a bit soft both in terms of his approach to playing the game and his ability/willingness to play through the nagging aches and pains that all NBA players have.
LeBron moved heaven and Earth to win a "Bubble" title, win the NBA Cup, and break Kareem's scoring record. Those accomplishments mean something but--as the tone of your comment suggests--they are not quite what Lakers' fans had in mind for the player who presumes to be the worthy successor to Mikan/Baylor/West/Chamberlain/Kareem/Magic/Shaq/Kobe.
David:
I find it funny that the Lakers decided to blow up their championship-winning team from 2020 (the one time that they were actually able to defeat Denver) and decided to get rid of players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (who is ironically now on the Nuggets), Kyle Kuzma, and Alex Caruso, all three of whom are good to elite level defensive players who can also contribute offensively and fit very well next to Lebron and AD.
The Lakers got swept by the Nuggets last year, proceeded to run it back with the same team, and now it looks like they're gonna get swept again. The definition of insanity is...
Todd:
LeBron and his media buddies spent so much time blaming Vogel and Westbrook that they started to believe their own hype that dumping a future HoFer for three role players actually represented a roster upgrade. The Nuggets and Lakers both showed us who they really are during last year's WCF, and if anyone missed the show they are providing a rerun now to prove that the first result was not a fluke (but the Lakers' run to the WCF was a fluke).
I think the Lakers were right to trade Westbrook but they did it for the wrong reasons. They weren’t utilizing him correctly and they were never going to utilize him correctly so from that perspective the trade made sense. Also, the situation between Westbrook, the organization, his teammates and Laker fans became toxic beyond repair for reasons that weren’t Westbrook’s fault.
As for the “tremendous trio” that the Lakers received in the trade, anyone who thought that Rob Pelinka was a legitimate candidate for the Executive of the Year Award based on the trade should never publicly speak about the NBA ever again.
Michael:
An organization--or, specifically, a superstar player who runs an organization--that is not capable of using a future HoFer correctly is not going to be able to do much of anything correctly.
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