LOS ANGELES – In 1985, the only thing standing between the Denver Nuggets and the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals were the Los Angeles Lakers.
Same thing in 2009 and 2020, and each time the Lakers ended the Nuggets’ season.
But in 2023, Denver finally broke through in the Western Conference Finals on the way to their first NBA championship in franchise history.
The Lakers will now get an early shot at redemption when the teams meet in the first round of the Western Conference play-offs. The Nuggets, the No. 2 seeds, host Game 1 of the best-of-seven series against seventh-seeded Los Angeles on April 20 (April 21, Singapore time).
The Nuggets have won eight straight against the Lakers, including the sweep in the Western Conference Finals, and they won the three meetings in 2024 by an average of 10 points.
Denver are therefore heavy favourites to eliminate LeBron James and Anthony Davis again, but they are expecting a tough series.
“I think every game in the play-off series last year was really tough,” said Nikola Jokic.
“Could’ve gone either way. Yes, we beat them 4-0, but they’re a really talented team. They’re really well built.”
The four games in last season’s play-offs were close, with only one – Denver’s 119-108 win in Game 3 – won by a double-digit margin, and the circumstances are different this time.
The two teams are meeting in the first round, so Los Angeles are much more rested.
In 2023, the Lakers had survived two six-game series and a play-in game before facing a Nuggets team who had won their first two rounds rather easily.
The other factor is the change in rosters. Denver’s bench included veterans Bruce Brown and Jeff Green last season, but this campaign the reserves are younger, less consistent but more athletic.
Head coach Michael Malone went through growing pains with Peyton Watson and Christian Braun as the two became more reliable.
The Lakers added Gabe Vincent in the off-season but a knee injury limited him to 11 games during the regular season. He returned to the line-up in late March and added perimeter defending and three-point shooting to the mix.
Vincent, as a Miami Heat player, did well guarding Nuggets guard Jamal Murray in the NBA Finals last term and could again play an important role.
But the biggest advantage Denver have is Jokic, who shoots at a high percentage, rebounds well and finds open teammates better than any other big man in the game. The Serbian star centre finished the regular season 10th in scoring (26.4 points), fourth in rebounding (12.4) and third in assists (9.0).
Davis, who will try to stop Jokic, did not have much success against him in the play-offs last season. Jokic averaged 27.8 points on 50.6 per cent shooting, 14.5 rebounds and 11.8 assists in the sweep of Los Angeles.
When it comes to the Lakers, one name comes to mind.
James, even at 39 years old, is capable of taking over games but knows his team have a small margin for error against the Nuggets.
“Have to play mistake-free basketball,” he said of the series. “Make it tough on them. They’re going to try to make it tough on us.” REUTERS
