For almost forever, to win title(s) in the NBA Playoffs you need four key things. One, one generational player, possibly two. Two, a supporting cast that compliments those headliners. Three, a sideline leader that can get the best out of roster at their disposal. Four, playing solid defense. In the first seven postseason tilts between the boys from “Hollywood” against the boys from the “Colorado Rockies” it was the boys from “City of Angels” that had the advantage in those three areas, particularly their three tilts in the Western Conference Finals. In their fourth tilt between these two squads in this upcoming West Finals, the boys from “Hollywood” still have two of the league’s top headliners, a solid complimentary supporting cast and have been arguably the best defense to this point in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. Their counterparts from the “Colorado Rockies” though are headlined by a now two-time Kia MVP and two complimentary star players. Whether that will be enough to get them over the hump this time around against the boys from “Hollywood” will be seen. Here is the J-Speaks 2023 Western Conference Finals Preview.
(1) Denver
Nuggets versus (7) Los Angeles Lakers
(53-29) (43-39)
Season-Series: tied 2-2
Playoff History
1979 West First Round LAL def. DEN 2-1
1985 West Finals LAL def. DEN 4-1
1987 West First Round LAL def. DEN 3-0
2008 West First Round LAL def. DEN 4-0
2009 West First Round LAL def. DEN 4-2
2012 West First Round LAL def. DEN 4-3
2020 West Finals LAL def. DEN 4-1
In the first seven
Playoff tilts between the 17-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers and the
Denver Nuggets, the boys from L.A. always entered those tilts with the best
player(s) and supporting cast in that series.
In their 1979 First Round tilt, the Lakers had Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Adrian Dantley along with Jamaal Wilkes and Norm Nixon and head coach, who would later become their General Manager in Hall of Famer Jerry West. The Nuggets in comparison were headlined by Hall of Famer David Thompson, George McGinnis, and now former Nuggets head coach in the middle of the 1990s Dan Issel and were coached by Doug Moe.
When the two squads met
in the first of three West Finals bouts, the eventual NBA champion Lakers again
had Abdul-Jabbar, along with Hall of Famers Earvin “Magic” Johnson, James
Worthy and Bob McAdoo, along with Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, Wilkes, Mitch
Kupchak, and Kurt Rambis. They were also led by Hall of Famer and now lead
executive in the front office of the three-time NBA champion Miami Heat Pat
Riley.
While Coach Moe had a
high scoring squad led by Hall of Famer Alex English, Fat Lever, Calvin Natt,
Issel, Wayne Cooper, they were no match for Riley’s Lakers as they were on the
wrong end of a gentleman’s sweep falling 4-1.
The same case held two
postseasons later in the opening round when the eventual four-time champion
Lakers led by Riley Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Worthy, Scott, Cooper, A.C. Green,
Rambis, and now radio voice for the Lakers Mychal Thompson, who was acquired
during the season easily swept Coach Moe’s squad led by English and Lever
flanked by Darrel Walker and now Nuggets pregame and postgame analyst Bill
Hanzlik 3-0.
The Lakers and Nuggets
would not meet again until 2008 again in the opening-round, with the same
result of a 4-0 opening-round sweep by the eventual Western Conference champion
Lakers led by Hall of Famers in the late Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol and head
coach Phil Jackson, supported by Trevor Ariza, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, Derek
Fisher, and now Cavaliers assistant coach Luke Walton.
The Nuggets squad that
was swept was anchored by head coach George Karl, future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony and Hall
of Famer Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, Nene Hilario, Kenyon Martin, and J.R.
Smith.
The two squads would meet
again one year later in a tangle for the Western Conference crown. That Nuggets
squad, which now had current Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups
on it to provide leadership and elite shot making to compliment Anthony, Martin
and Smith gave the Lakers a battle and had them squared 2-2 after four games.
But the Lakers won Game 5 of that series at home and closed out the series in
Denver with a victory in Game 6.
In their 2012 First Round
tilt, Coach Karl’s Nuggets starless squad that consisted of the Ty Lawson,
Arron Afflalo, current Boston Celtic Danilo Gallinari, Nene, Al Harrington,
Andre Miller, Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler, current Dallas Maverick JaVale
McGee, and Corey Brewer, pushed the Bryant, Gasol, and Jackson led Lakers to
seven games but lost the series.
When the two teams meet in the 2020 West Finals in the restart in Orlando, FL the Lakers were headlined by four-time Kia MVP and eventual three-time Finals MVP LeBron James and Anthony Davis and coached by Frank Vogel.
That squad flanked by a
supporting cast of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, current members of the Chicago Bulls
Alex Caruso, Cleveland Cavaliers Danny Green, Utah Jazz guard Talen
Horton-Tucker, Washington Wizard Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo, and Dwight Howard.
The headliners of that
Nuggets squad was current head coach Michael Malone and now two-time Kia MVP
Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter, Jr.
A lot has changed between
these two squads as they meet again for the Western Conference title.
The Lakers are back in
the Playoffs for the first time after a two-year absence. They are led by
first-year head coach Darvin Ham, who helped to guide a Lakers squad who
overcame a 2-10 start to this season and earned their way into the 2023 NBA
Playoffs through the West Play-In Tournament taking down the Minnesota
Timberwolves at home 108-102 to claim the No. 7 spot in the West.
The Lakers in the
First-Round took down the No. 2 Seeded Memphis Grizzlies 4-2, stealing home
court advantage winning Game 1 at Memphis 128-112 on Apr. 16. They closed the
book on the Grizzlies 2022-23 campaign with a dominant Game 6 triumph on their
home floor 125-85 on Apr. 27.
The Lakers followed the
same script in the West Semis taking down the defending NBA champion Golden
State Warriors 4-2 handing the Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green,
head coach Steve Kerr led Warriors their first postseason series loss to a West
opponent since 2015 in their last 20 chances.
They won Game 1 117-112
at the Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco, CA on May 2 and closed the
door on the series with a dominant 122-101 win nine days later.
It is hard to fathom that
the Lakers are in this position after a dreadful start to their 2022-23
campaign at 2-10. James and Davis battled injuries during the regular season
and they had a supporting cast that just did not balance each other out,
particularly Russell Westbrook, even though individually played solidly as a
reserve.
The tides began turning
for the Lakers with the acquisition first of Rui Hachimura from the Wizards on
Jan. 23 for reserve guard Kendrick Nunn.
Then front office leader
Rob Pelinka made two more key deals in acquiring in a three-team deal at the
Feb. 9 trade deadline All-Star D’Angelo Russell from the Timberwolves, Malik
Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt from the Jazz in exchange for Westbrook, Damian
Jones, and former Warrior Juan Toscano-Anderson.
In a four-team deal with
the Orlando Magic, Nuggets, and Clippers, the Lakers acquired Mo Bamba from the
Magic and Davon Reed for the Nuggets sending center Thomas Bryant to the
“rockies” and guard Patrick Beverly to the Magic, who eventually waived him.
Those additions coupled
with the remaining supporting cast of Troy Brown, Jr., Austin Reaves, Dennis
Schroder, and Lonnie Walker IV gave the Lakers a balanced roster that is
versatile and complimentary to James and Davis.
So far in the 2023 Playoffs,
the Lakers are No. 10 in scoring (112.4), No. 5 in field goal percentage (47
percent), No. 11 in three-point percentage (33.1 percent).
What has allowed the
Lakers to thrive this postseason has been their play at the defensive end,
where they are No. 1 in opponent’s field goal percentage (42.2 percent); and
No. 6 in opponent’s three-point percentage (33.4 percent). The Lakers defense
has been especially sturdy in the paint, where Coach Ham’s squad has allowed an
accuracy of just 50.9 percent shooting in the paint, ranked No. 2 so far this
postseason, with a marksmanship of just 47.9 percent with Davis on the
hardwood.
That defense has put the
Lakers into the Conference Finals for the 24th time in their
franchise history. In their first 23 visits to one part of the NBA’s Final
Four, they have gone 19-4.
Teams To Reach The
Conference Finals After Being 8-Plus Games or Worse Under .500 At Any Point
Regular Season (Elias Sports Bureau)
1976 Phoenix Suns: 9 Games
1978 Seattle Supersonics: 12 Games
1984 Phoenix Suns: 8 Games
2023 Los Angeles Lakers: 8 Games
The Lakers also joined
the 1987 Seattle Supersonics as the two teams in NBA Playoff history to reach
the Conference Finals as No. 7 Seed. The Lakers are also the second team in NBA
history to start a season 2-10 or worse and win a Playoff series, joining the
1977-78 Supersonics.
That Lakers defense will
be put to the test against a Nuggets squad leads the NBA with an average of
53.6 paint points so far this postseason. That is second in fastbreak points so
far in the 2023 Playoffs at 18.3 and is No. 10 in second chance points at 12.9.
That balance on both ends
is a big reason why the Lakers have gone 6-0 at home so far this postseason and
have won eight straight games at Crypto.com Arena dating back to the regular
season.
As important as the
supporting cast and the team’s play at the defense end has been, the Lakers are
in the position of being just four more wins away from their first Finals
appearance since 2020 is because of the play of solid play of Davis and the
steady play of James, who has taken down both the Grizzlies and Warriors and
Father Time.
In the series clincher
versus the Warriors, James had 30 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists, his
18th 30-plus point performance in a series clincher, second most in
NBA Playoff history. It was also his first 30-point game in the postseason
since the 2020 NBA Finals against the Heat.
“There’s not many of our
team that’s been in closeout games. So, after Game 5 up in Bay [Area] I knew
that I had to come in with a lot of aggression but be very efficient and very
strategic on how I play this game. So, it was big time,” James, who went 10/14
shooting said to ESPN’s Lisa Salters after the Game 6 clinching win.
For James, who is
averaging 23.4 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists on 49.1 percent shooting
so far this postseason when he has gotten to this point of the postseason in
his career has led his team to the championship round in his two stints with
the Cavaliers (2003-10, 2015-18), and four seasons with the Heat (2010-14).
For James, this will be
his 12th appearance in Conference Finals, going 10-1 in his first 11
appearances, with the lone loss in 2009 East Finals with Cavaliers against the
Magic.
With the Lakers, six-game
triumph over the aforementioned Warriors, James, 38 won his 41st
career Playoff series, surpassing Fisher for the most postseason series wins in
NBA Playoff history.
Most Playoff Series Wins In NBA History
LeBron James (LAL) 41 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 37
Derek Fisher 40 Tim Duncan 35
Robert Horry 39
James pretty much had his
way with whoever checked him in the first two rounds of this postseason
starting with Dillion Brooks of the Grizzlies, who after Game 2 mocked James
calling him old and said that he does not respect anyone he checks unless they
score 40 on him. While James did not score 40, he did in the Lakers 117-111
overtime win in Game 4 on Apr. 24 scored the game ceiling basket on Brooks that
put the Lakers up in the series 3-1.
James knows he and Davis
will have to play with that same forcefulness against a Nuggets squad that they
have a great deal of respect for.
“It’s going to be a great
series. You have two well-coached teams. They’ve been the No. 1 Seed all year
long,” James said to Salters about their next Playoff opponent.
“So, we give them a lot
of respect. We come into that series with a lot of respect for Denver and what
they can accomplish and what they can do against us. And if we’re not locked
in, they’ll put it to us. We’ll take a couple of days [off]. But we’ll lock in
on our assignments. We understand what they possess. I know what they possess
and we’ll be ready for it on Tuesday.”
As important as James’ production
will be to get the Lakers back to The Finals, it will be Davis that will be the
difference maker on both ends like he has been all postseason for the Lakers.
While Davis has had solid
production of 21.2 points, 14.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocks on 53 percent shooting
through the first two rounds of this postseason, he has had a games where he
has physically shown up but not emotionally or production wise.
In the just completed
series against the Warriors, Davis averaged 23.8 points, 17.8 rebounds, and 2.5
blocks on 61.1 percent shooting in the four wins on 29/33 at the foul line. In
the two losses, Davis registered averages of 17 points, eight boards, 1.5
blocks 51.7 percent from the field going 4/6 at foul line.
When the Lakers took down
the Nuggets in the Conference Finals as mentioned three seasons back, Davis had
capable backups to help him guard the now two-time Kia MVP in Nikola Jokic in
the aforementioned Howard and McGee.
This time around, Davis
will have to check Jokic by himself and his ability to remain out of foul
trouble will go a long way in the Lakers being in position to win this series.
“Try to catch him coming
out of his house and kidnap him,” Coach Ham said jokingly to the media after
practice on Monday about how to stop Jokic.
“A.D. will start on him
and other guys will see action against him. Just try to put our best foot
forward every time out. We’ll try to do everything we can, do our work early,
keep him off balance.”
They will need Davis to
play at the level like he did in the Game 6 victory over the Warriors where he
had 17 points and 20 rebounds. But him getting only nine shots like he did in
that Game 6 clincher will not cut it against the Nuggets.
“Togetherness,” Davis
said to Salters on how the Lakers went from being 2-10 to start this season to getting
to the West Finals. “We want to shock the world, you know? Us starting 2-10, knowing
that at the trade deadline we got better. Added knew pieces. The way we were
playing, you know, guys came in
motivated and wanting to win.”
“Not a lot of guys been
in closeout games or in this position at all in the Second Round on our team. So,
you know, they’re hungry. They want it just like me and ‘Bron want another one
[title]. Now it’s time to go get it. Unfinished business. We’ve got to go into
Denver with a mindset of like ‘Bron said they’ve been the No. 1 Seed and if we
come in messing around, we’ll lose by 30
every game. So, we’ve got to give them their respect. But we know what we’re capable
of as a team. Where we want to go and we think we’ve got enough fire power. We
just got to go get it done and put it to the test.”
Three seasons back the
Nuggets reached the West Finals by overcoming 3-1 series deficits in the
opening-round against the Jazz and in the Semis against the so-called “little
brother” to the Lakers in the Clippers to win both series in seven games.
At that time, Jokic was
not the lead dog on that squad, though he was quite productive. It was Jamal
Murray, who averaged 26.5 points that postseason, making prolific shot after
prolific shot, especially when he registered 50 points in a game in the
opening-round against the Jazz and now All-Star guard for the Cavaliers Donovan
Mitchell.
The previous two seasons
though, the Nuggets have not had Murray because of a torn ACL in his knee
sustained in April 2021 at the Warriors.
Michael Porter, Jr., the
Nuggets No. 3 scorer this season was just finding himself in 2020 Playoffs
essentially playing his rookie season in 2019-20 after being shelved because of
back surgery his first NBA season.
Without Murray the past
two seasons, Jokic raised his game to a level that made him a back-to-back MVP
and with the return of Murray and a more seasoned Porter, Jr. the Nuggets
became the top team in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise
history, despite a 7-10 finish to the regular season.
In the Playoffs, the
Nuggets took down the No. 8 Seeded Timberwolves 4-1 and in the West Semis won
Games 5 (118-1020 and 6 (125-100) convincingly over the No. 4 Seeded Phoenix
Suns.
At the forefront of the
Nuggets the first 11 games of the 2023 Playoffs, where they have gone 8-3 has
been Jokic, whose averaged a near triple-double of 30.7 points, 12.8 rebounds
and 9.7 assists on 54.9 percent from the field, 47.5 percent on his triple
tries and 78.7 percent on 6.8 attempts at the foul line. He has registered five
of his 11 career triple-doubles this postseason, surpassing the most
triple-doubles by a center that was previously held by the late Hall of Famer
Wilt Chamberlin with nine. Three of those five triple-doubles came in the Semis
against the Suns. Jokic also, with those 11 triple-doubles in his postseason
career, tied Hall of Famer and Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd for No. 4
on that NBA’s all-time list.
Most Double-Digit
Postseason Career Triple-Doubles NBA Playoff History
Earvin “Magic” Johnson 30 Jason
Kidd 11
LeBron James (LAL) 28 Draymond Green (GS) 10
Russell Westbrook (LAC) 12 Rajon
Rondo 10
Nikola Jokic (DEN) 11 Larry Bird 10
Three Triple-Doubles In A Playoff
Series All-Time NBA History
1963 Oscar Robertson 2002 Jason Kidd
1967 Wilt Chamberlin 2017 Russell Westbrook (LAC) with Thunder
1982 Earvin “Magic” Johnson 2023
Nikola Jokic (DEN)
In the just completed
series triumph over the Suns, Jokic in Game 6 on May 11 with his performance of
32 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists on 13/18 shooting became just the fourth
player in NBA history with a 30-point triple-double on 70 percent from the
floor in a Playoff game. He averaged for the Semis against the Suns 34.5
points, 13.2 rebounds, and 10.3 assists on 59.4 percent from the field, 44.4
percent on his threes and 85.4 percent at the charity stripe on 6.8 attempts.
“Fifth game, I think we
looked like a championship team. Like, we were so focused,” Jokic, whose squad
outscored Suns 98-74 after leading by one late in the first quarter of Game 6 said
in his postgame presser. “I don’t know how a championship team looks. But I think
that’s how it’s supposed to look.
Through two rounds of
this postseason, Jokic already for the third time in his postseason career has
registered 300 points, 100 rebounds, and 100 assists in a single postseason.
Highest Scoring Averages
While Averaging A Triple-Double In Single Postseason Series In NBA Playoff History
Russell Westbrook (LAC) 37.4 2017 West First Round
with Thunder
Nikola Jokic (DEN) 2023 34.5 2023 West
Semis
LeBron James (LAL) 33.6 2017 NBA Finals with Cavaliers
Murray has made up for
his two-year postseason absence averaging 25.9 points, 6.5 assists and 5.2
boards on 46.1 percent from the field and a glistening 39.5 percent from
three-point range. This includes four games where he has scored 30-plus points
including 40 in the team’s 122-113 win in Game 2 of the opening-round versus
the Timberwolves where he shot 13/22 from the floor and 6/10 from three on Apr.
19 to put the Nuggets up 2-0. In the clinching fifth game of the series on Apr.
25 versus the guys from the “Twin Cities,” Murray had 35 points and five
assists on 12/23 from the field, including 5/9 on his triple tries.
Murray opened the West
Semis against the Suns with 34 points, nine assists, and five rebounds on 13/24
shooting, going 6/10 again from three. He fought through an illness in Game 6
at the Suns last Thursday to register 26 points with four steals going 4/7 from
three.
“You know, I think we can
win the championship. I believe it and you know, it’s just our mindset,” Murray
said after his team’s second largest margin of victory in a Playoff series
clincher in their history in Game 6 at the Suns. “We’ve been doing it all year.
So, we got to carry it into the Playoffs and we’ve shown we can do that.”
In the 2020 West Finals,
the Nuggets’ supporting cast was Torrey Craig, Jerami Grant, Gary Harris,
Juancho Hernangomez, Will Barton, Paul Millsap, Monte Morris, Beasley, Mason Plumlee,
Will Barton. Also on that roster was Vanderbilt.
That roster, while very
talented from top to bottom but was short on experience and it showed in the
series against the Lakers.
The headliners in Jokic,
Murray, and Porter, Jr. are more seasoned now and they have a more seasoned
supporting cast in Aaron Gordon, Bruce Brown, Caldwell-Pope, Jeff Green, and
rookie Christian Braun.
Brown, and Caldwell-Pope
in particular have proven to be key additions on both ends for the Nuggets,
especially at the close of their aforementioned tilt with the Suns.
In the previously mentioned Nuggets win in Game 5 versus the Suns, while Jokic led the way with 29 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists, Brown off the bench had a game changing 25 point and five boards on 7/11 from the field and 9/10 at the foul line.
Caldwell-Pope shined in
Game 6 scoring all 21 of his points in the opening half on 7/9 shooting with
five rebounds, where they Nuggets went into the locker room leading 81-51 at
the break. KCP entered action totaling 19 points in Games 3-5. He scored 17
points with four boards on 6/7 from the field in the opening period helping the
Nuggets to a 44-26 after the first where they closed the period scoring 17
straight points.
Along with his shooting
and ability to check the opposing team’s best perimeter player(s),
Caldwell-Pope brings something just as valuable, championship experience having
been on the other side of this rivalry helping the Lakers win it all as
mentioned in 2020. He will be especially important in this series having to
tangle with Russell, Reaves, Walker IV, and Hachimura.
After a strong regular
season, the Denver Nuggets proved to be a strong favorite to be in one part of
the NBA’s Finals Four, even though there were many in the NBA circle that had
their doubts.
This will be their fifth
tripe to the Conference Finals in their NBA history and as mentioned their
fourth tilt in the West Finals against the Lakers. The Nuggets overall have not
faired well in their Playoff tilts, let alone their bouts in the West Finals
against the Lakers losing the first seven postseason series, including their
first four bouts in the Conference Finals, going 8-25 in games in the
postseason against the boys from the “City of Angels.”
Most Series Wins Without
A Loss Team vs. Team In NBA Playoff History
Lakers vs. Nuggets: 7-0 Warriors vs. Rockets: 4-0
Celtics vs. Bulls: 5-0 Knicks
vs. Cavaliers: 4-0
Celtics vs. Rockets: 4-0
The Nuggets enter this
bout with the Lakers with home court advantage, a more experienced trio in
Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter, Jr. They have the experienced
head coach in Michael Malone and they have a solid complimentary cast in
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Aaron Gordon, Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, and Christian
Braun.
“It seems like for years now,
some dusty old countdown in the rocky mountains the little respect that we get
some respect. And you sit there and fight it and complain about it or you and
just embrace who we are and what we have,” Coach Malone said after Game 6 about
his team’s approach earning respect from the public when asked that by ESPN’s
Ohm Youngmisuk.
“And I’d rather not waist
time on all the pundits who count us out. Who don’t give us the respect that we
deserve as a team and everything that we’ve done.”
“But there’s one thing we
haven’t done. And until we win a championship people are going to keep saying that
about us. So, that’s what drives us. Getting to the Western Conference Finals
doesn’t do it.”
The Lakers though have the more established stars with championship mental in LeBron Janes and Anthony Davis, who are both healthy. They too have a solid supporting cast in Austin Reaves, Dennis Schroder, Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, and Lonnie Walker IV.
On top of that, the Lakers are the more committed defensive team, which will be tested against an offensive juggernaut in the Nuggets who featured the most versatile player in the league in Jokic who can score and facility all over the hardwood.
This has all the makings
of a classic series that these two teams did have in the opening round as
mentioned 11 postseasons back. Only this time the Nuggets do have some serious
star power.
Series Pick: Lakers in
seven.
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