2023 WC Finals: (1) Denver Nuggets vs (7) Los Angeles Lakers

[indifference]

Bron aint about to take Gordon iso all series. He going attack j murray

[RandyMossIsBoss]

I feel good about the Nuggets in this series. The home court is huge and I just don't think LA will have the firepower to keep up or ability to significantly slow us down. Match up well having Gordon to stick on Lebron. AD will probably feast... but not more than Jokic. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jrry32]

I'm hoping the Nuggets pull this out. Want to see them vs. the Celtics in the Finals.

[BigC421/]

12 hours ago, TheRealMcCoy said:

 

Nuggets are 40-7 

Almost identical to the free throw advantage the Lakers require to be competitive 

[General Tso]

3 hours ago, BigC421/ said:

Almost identical to the free throw advantage the Lakers require to be competitive 

[Mossburg]

I think this is gonna be like 2000, when Shaq stamped himself as the undisputed best player going forward. I know a lot of people already consider Jokic the best, but there is something special when a dude rampages through the lot in the postseason on his way to a championship, deleting any potential counter arguments. Also helps Nuggets are facing a few former kings, with KD and the Suns, now LeBron (and AD who played well against him last time), and a matchup of maybe Embiid or Bam in the Finals, or the Celtics trying to break through. Basically takes the torch from the old guard in the West, and tells the up and comers to wait your turn...if ever.

I guess the Nuggets cast can still blow it if the moment gets too big or something, but Lakers cast is probably more likely TBH, even though both have done well so far.

Edited May 14, 2023 by Mossburg

[Trey Lance]

Hate that I'm a fan of the Lakers. This will be such a great matchup I won't be able to enjoy lol

Denver in 7.

[champ11]

8 hours ago, Mossburg said:

I think this is gonna be like 2000, when Shaq stamped himself as the undisputed best player going forward. I know a lot of people already consider Jokic the best, but there is something special when a dude rampages through the lot in the postseason on his way to a championship, deleting any potential counter arguments. Also helps Nuggets are facing a few former kings, with KD and the Suns, now LeBron (and AD who played well against him last time), and a matchup of maybe Embiid or Bam in the Finals, or the Celtics trying to break through. Basically takes the torch from the old guard in the West, and tells the up and comers to wait your turn...if ever.

I guess the Nuggets cast can still blow it if the moment gets too big or something, but Lakers cast is probably more likely TBH, even though both have done well so far.

Yeah, really feels like it's lining up for our time. Nugs in 5 or 6. Lakers can win if AD is the best player in the series - which is possible - but IMO would be surprising. Going to be fun. Obviously Jokic needs to be wise to a sensitive whistle and stay TF out of foul trouble. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

9 hours ago, Mossburg said:

I think this is gonna be like 2000, when Shaq stamped himself as the undisputed best player going forward. I know a lot of people already consider Jokic the best, but there is something special when a dude rampages through the lot in the postseason on his way to a championship, deleting any potential counter arguments. Also helps Nuggets are facing a few former kings, with KD and the Suns, now LeBron (and AD who played well against him last time), and a matchup of maybe Embiid or Bam in the Finals, or the Celtics trying to break through. Basically takes the torch from the old guard in the West, and tells the up and comers to wait your turn...if ever.

I guess the Nuggets cast can still blow it if the moment gets too big or something, but Lakers cast is probably more likely TBH, even though both have done well so far.

That is certainly possible and he's going to need to continue look to score and just dominate from start to finish. The Lakers don't even have many bodies to throw at him and I doubt they will want AD on him at all times. Will be interesting to see how the Lakers defend him or attempt to defend him. I can see them putting Jokic out at the top of the key to take AD out of the paint but the Nuggets have to attack when that happens and not just settle for jumpers. 

This certainly feels like the Nuggets time and yet I am still picking the Lakers lol. Should be fun either way. 

[Mox]

The biggest concern for Denver here is depth. They've played an 8 man rotation all postseason, and two of those guys barely play. At some point that is going to catch up with a team, and that's not factoring in foul trouble could be an issue this series.

[lomaxgrUK]

1 hour ago, Mox said:

The biggest concern for Denver here is depth. They've played an 8 man rotation all postseason, and two of those guys barely play. At some point that is going to catch up with a team, and that's not factoring in foul trouble could be an issue this series.

Hmm. Not sure about this. There isn't a more durable player in the NBA than Jokic. He's proven that for years.

The Nuggets have also played a solid 9 (and sometimes 10) man rotation all regular season. They should definitely have the legs still. 

The only two guys I have fatigue issues with are Jamal and AG. Jamal's conditioning has frustrated me this postseason. Needs to work on that in the off-season.

AG must be beaten up to an extent. 5 games of guarding a guy 40 lbs heavier than him in KAT, then 6 games of defending an elite scorer.

When it comes to fatigue/health, surely the Lakers have more concerns given the health history of their two stars, no?

[Mox]

8 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said:

Hmm. Not sure about this. There isn't a more durable player in the NBA than Jokic. He's proven that for years.

The Nuggets have also played a solid 9 (and sometimes 10) man rotation all regular season. They should definitely have the legs still. 

The only two guys I have fatigue issues with are Jamal and AG. Jamal's conditioning has frustrated me this postseason. Needs to work on that in the off-season.

AG must be beaten up to an extent. 5 games of guarding a guy 40 lbs heavier than him in KAT, then 6 games of defending an elite scorer.

When it comes to fatigue/health, surely the Lakers have more concerns given the health history of their two stars, no?

The Nuggets only have eight guys who have played more than 15 minutes this postseason. The Lakers have had 14 guys play more than 20 minutes (10 over 90 mins).

Two of those eight guys for Denver are Jeff Green and Christian Braun. It's not a deep team. Plus playing a 9-10 man rotation for the regular season isn't deep either. It's not a durability concern, it's a stamina one. Though it's fair to say that someone like LeBron should get more exhausted the deeper they go as well.

[MOSteelers56]

I'll be pulling for either of these teams in the Finals. I'd like to see Lebron get a few more rings but I'd also like to see Jokic get some rings too. Either way it'll be a fun one. 

[lomaxgrUK]

1 hour ago, Mox said:

The Nuggets only have eight guys who have played more than 15 minutes this postseason. The Lakers have had 14 guys play more than 20 minutes (10 over 90 mins).

Two of those eight guys for Denver are Jeff Green and Christian Braun. It's not a deep team. Plus playing a 9-10 man rotation for the regular season isn't deep either. It's not a durability concern, it's a stamina one. Though it's fair to say that someone like LeBron should get more exhausted the deeper they go as well.

But my point is, why wouldn't the 3 man bench of the Nuggets be able to handle the workload? They've not been stretched in the regular season, so why is stamina an issue? They've had plenty of rest all year, and, to be frank, this playoff run.

Isn't the Lakers rotation just 8 guys at this point too? I mean, are we really sure that Malik Beasley is better playoff depth than Reggie Jackson / Vlatko Cancar / Zeke Nnaji? Can't say I am convinced by that. 

Between the two teams, I just cannot look at the Lakers and think they have more depth. Just don't see it at all. You mentioned foul trouble - they've coped plenty fine thus far when any non-Jokic player is in foul trouble; why is that going to change now?

 

 

[Mox]

1 minute ago, lomaxgrUK said:

But my point is, why wouldn't the 3 man bench of the Nuggets be able to handle the workload? They've not been stretched in the regular season, so why is stamina an issue? They've had plenty of rest all year, and, to be frank, this playoff run.

Isn't the Lakers rotation just 8 guys at this point too? I mean, are we really sure that Malik Beasley is better playoff depth than Reggie Jackson / Vlatko Cancar / Zeke Nnaji? Can't say I am convinced by that. 

Between the two teams, I just cannot look at the Lakers and think they have more depth. Just don't see it at all. You mentioned foul trouble - they've coped plenty fine thus far when any non-Jokic player is in foul trouble; why is that going to change now?

 

 

Because cumulative fatigue is a thing. 

I mean, no, it's objectively not. I really don't see what you're missing here. It's not even a hot take, it's a common sense statement. Denver has the smallest rotation of every team left by a mile, and LA's up near the top. NBA players get fatigued in the postseason. If you want to argue the quality of Beasley vs. Jackson that's fine but it's not relevant. One has played and the other has not. Denver has placed a larger burden on their top 6 than anyone else has. 

It would change because instead of playing the 16th and 27th ranked teams in FTA/game they are playing the #1 team. I want Denver to win but these are two legitimate concerns I have with them being able to do so.