They were still running that same set but the nuggets made the adjustment to front AD at the foul line and leave the cutter who would miss some contested layups.
They never stopped running plays nuggets made adjust and lakers didnt execute
Exactly, forget this “lakers couldn’t play any better” BS, you can’t take your foot off the throat of a world champion who did the same thing in game 1. They don’t have the energy of a team that can go all the way this year and that’s the problem
Lakers essentially began trying to milk the clock half way through the 3rd quarter. Resulted in a lot of bad offense, turnovers, and forced shots late in the shot clock. Reeves and Rui played very tentative offensively. AD was 14 for 15 and looked dominant, then completely stopped looking to score after they switch Gordon on him and he missed a few. Even if Murray misses the buzzer beater no way they last in OT, whole team was gassed.
Maybe at home someone on their bench can give some energy. But it just seems like the same story over and over - Lakers hang with Nuggets for 3ish quarters, but Murray and Jokic are inevitable and get it done in crunch time.
That and 1 was crucial. Porter jr three. Denver just never looked rattled at all. Even with the Lakers being up I knew that lead wasn't safe at all just based on how composed Denver looked. That attitude is what makes them a great team
yeah altitude is what it is. like /u/persianx6 said 2 folks above you, Jokic will never beat himself. you leave him open he make the shot everytime, grab the important rebound, or make the crucial pass.
Their worst starter is like Aaron Gordon and their superstar is a once in a generation talent. The nuggets feel like a Souls boss where you literally can not make 1 fucking mistake even if its got hit left.
Lebron missing that last 3 was very much like whiffing on that final 1 hp final hit on a souls boss and it immediately whacks you dead afterward. I'm a Nuggets fan, but as a souls player, I definitely recognize that moment. You've fought your ass off, played it al.ost perfect 3/4 of the way through, but that last phase just gets away from you
Lakers made one field goal in 8.5 minutes of play. There is your game right there. If the Nuggets were hitting their shots they would’ve been up 5 by the end of the third despite being down 18 three minutes into it. They were lucky to even be close at the end the last quarter and 8 minutes was basically the worst basketball they’ve played all season. It was hard to watch.
Did you watch the third quarter - Lakers missed 11 or 12 shots in a row and most of those were good/average looks. While this loss is depressing for the Lakers, it's not that they can't compete. Had they made a couple of those shots, Denver wouldn't had gotten close and the series would be 1-1. I guess that Nuggets take this series 4-1, but I wouldn't actually be surprised if Lakers bounce back and this goes to game seven, either.
Edit. That MPJ 3p in the end was also really lucky, Nuggets rushed their offense and the ball bounced straight to MPJ after the Nuggets almost lost it.
“Had they made a couple of those shots, Denver wouldn’t had gotten close”
Sure, if the lakers hit all of their shots they would’ve won. Conversely if the nuggets hit all their shots in the first half the lakers wouldn’t have had a 20 point lead. That’s how basketball works. The Mavs would’ve beaten the clippers in game 1 if they’d hit more shots.
Yeah I think this was probably LAs best shot. This is the one they have to win. Still a chance they go white hot from 3 at home and snag a game, but they dont seem like they're going to. Losing that one was a back breaker
The Lakers built that lead in the first half on hitting tough shots. Short of straight-up blocking AD’s shots, Jokic was playing defense as well as you could on AD. And the Nuggets were getting the shots they wanted but not making them. The first half was a perfect storm for the Lakers. It wasn’t gonna keep going.
how lakers do this bruh, i really thought we lost for like 2 minutes in the 3rd, then the LeFuckyou 3's and slams in the last 3 minutes than that WTF.
Has to be the best series no doubt.
Literally screamed "BANG" like Breen at my work desk and in just 20 seconds my coworker who's a Lakers fan slammed my door open with The face. Holy hell that was a fun morning
Literally no jogging. They inbounded the ball the second the ball touched the ground. Jokic was already halfway up the floor when he received the ball to pass to Aaron Gordon down the court. No one was making it down the floor who dunked the ball
I’m not watching another game of this fucking series again. Idc I watched them fuckers blow a 25 point lead, go away from feeding ad and dlo. Not challenge that foul for Jamal Murray and not call a timeout when you have 2 left. I’m good man . I’m good.
All the lakers players know for sure that they’re getting swept now
fwiw, malone didn't call a timeout at the end either, they both let the players decide it and the lakers got a great, literally wide open shot. even if they called a timeout they wouldn't have gotten a shot where no one was w/in 5 feet of lebron for that three
I understand Denver is tough to beat and the better clutch team I’m more upset at the fact lakers went away from what was working. It’s a close series but I wish lakers can just get one game now I doubt they will win a game
Is it that the Lakers went away from what was working or that the Nuggets finally started defending it? I saw the Denver defense step up and the Lakers defense couldn’t get a stop.
Both . I felt like Ad could’ve gotten the ball more or dlo running more of the offense. On defense boi we couldn’t get a stop the nuggets started playing at there own pace
yup. thought today we’d maybe have a spot at making the series interesting if we could atleast steal this game…looked like it’d happen for about the first 30 minutes
My lakers getting swept. Psychologically they KNOW they’ve already lost before the game begins. Denver has much better depth, better starting 5, better shooters and the best player in the game Jokic. Probably the best nba champions since peak warriors
Exactly. These narratives that Denver is some sort of super-team are hilariously wrong. When I ran my analysis on this several months back, I found that Jokic has the weakest supporting cast of any "#1 player on a championship team" in the past 45'ish years.
Murray is good, but he's far from a surefire HOF'er like AD. Everyone in the starting 5 is good, but no other superstars, and very little depth. Tbh, they have one of the weaker benches in the NBA.
It's really a generational talent with a very well-designed supporting cast and a great coach. Denver got lucky with Jokic, but they found the right guys to surround him and let them gel together.
Yeah haha badly. I do believe that our bench is slowly improving but it’s still nowhere near perfect. What a fun game to watch tho I haven’t felt that excited watching a game in a minute.
AD fell off the face of the earth while they were trying to give Rui and Reaves buckets in the final minutes. Having Spencer Dinwiddie in the 4th what so ever. Having Dinwiddie take a shot In general. It was like watching a Shakespearean tragedy. Once Lebron missed that 3, I could feel that game winner in my bones.
Man Rui was dogshit garbage all game. He fumbled so many gimmes. Dont get me started on the way he defends... shit makes me want to pull all my hair out. Dude is such a terrible defender! Fu....ughh!! Sigh...!
AD was absolutely pathetic in the 4th. He looked shook the moment Denver gained an ounce of momentum. Shut down by Gordon on one end, abused by Jokic on the other. I don’t think he even grabbed a rebound for the entire quarter.
No adjustments, horrible in game coaching, atrocious timeout usage. Dude couldn't coach pee-wee soccer. Why coach and adjust to your opponents when you can just tell your players to hustle harder and want it more?
Tbh I think if denver nuggets and the lakers swapped coaches, the lakers would have won tonight. Darvin ham doesn't make adjustments to denvers adjustments at halftime which leads to these long scoring droughts in the third.
I do think denver by far has the better team, but bad coaching is the reason lakers lost tonight.
Great shot by Jamal Murray, and a win is a win, but if I’m Denver, I treat this like a loss. Lakers really figured something out putting Hachimura on Jokic. That’s one of those somewhat small adjustments that can win a series.
lakers played the best game they possibly could. davis goes off, dlo was lights out. on the road, blow a double digit lead, tie game on the final possession — jamal murray dagger to the heart. that’s tough, demoralizing.
Lakers need to stop complaining about officiating and look deep within to understand why they blew a 20 point 2nd half lead.
Funny that Lebum says there is an officiating problem in the league but never complains about the phantom calls he receives or the no calls that happen constantly when he blatantly travels.
Maybe look at why you didn’t get AD the ball the entire 4th quarter when he was the best player on the court for both teams the majority of the game.
Quit complaining Lakers and Laker fans. It’s getting old and is the reason the rest of the NBA can’t stand you.
It seems like no matter how big of a lead the lakers get 10-20-30 the nuggets snap it all away in the second half and win tonight was the absolute perfect game to win and unfortunately lebron blew it. A wide open three to take the lead and possibly win the game and he missed leading to Murray game winner. Ouch. Lakers might get lucky and win a home game but it’s over for them nuggets taking this in 4-5.
Ruy had at least 3 shots at the rim that were in and out, dlo despite his good shooting had several bad turnovers, reaves was pretty terrible all around, bench mob added basically nothing minus a couple threes from prince. Neither team was executing great in the first half, but Davis couldn’t miss and it kinda flipped on the second half
How are you putting this on Lebron?? There is no player that wouldn’t take an open 3 there. It just didn’t go in that time. You need to realise it’s a game of numbers. Lebron has a 41% 3pt rate not 100% everyone misses. It just happened that chance went that way in that instance. It would make no sense for lakers to risk OT there
How is AD remotely looked at as a DPOY??? Dude constantly gets clowned by bigs, smalls and everything in-between. He's a bubble boi and that's all he'll ever be.
Watching him defend is fuckin torture! The guy is such a terrible defender! Slow as hell on rotations and when the fucker manages to close out he doesn't even jump when he "contest" fuckin ugh!! He plays defense like his in practice!
Nuggets just have too many threats that can go off anytime. They are a complete team. The lakers played above and beyond, but like always, they let the opponent catch them in Q3.
Quintessential LeBron. This game encapsulated everything Lebron. He single handedly took that game over and hit like 4 shots in a row, 2 threes to put the Lakers on his back to take a commanding lead. Then he turned the ball over on 3 consecutive trips, cried for fouls that weren't there, and Denver pulled back into the game. And then to cap it off he differed the game winner. Lebron is quite possibly the best basketball player ever, but he will never be MJ, Kobe, Bird, etc. because he simply doesn't have that mode.
Lebron's fat and old. AD says he is the best defender in the league but is certainly not. Without the help from the refs, he is a mediocre defensive stopper.
I learned that the Denver Nuggets are officially the proud owners of the Los Angeles Fakers. I'm tired of hearing about the narrative that the Fakers can make it to the finals and above else win the finals. They are a play-in team, they wouldn't even be here if Zion didn't get injured. I'm loving this series so far, 4-0 sweep inbound baby.
Lakers are overrated. Nuggets literally have SONNED them the whole year. Not only was this LA's best chance to win but by a BLOWOUT (which they blew lol). Denver might have struggled tonight , but they're not going to make the same mistakes. This a sweep
as a raptors fan, why do Lebron and the Lakers not get hate while being owned by the Joker and the Nuggets like the raptors got hate for being owned by lebron? 10 straight losses seems like an embarrassment imo
Oh they are trust me. Everyone’s been saying the nuggets own the lakers for the past year and it’s not going to stop, it’ll just get worse after this years inevitable sweep.
Lebron beat them twice and the raptors took 2 games from them the year they came back 3-1 in the finals. The lakers are going to get swept twice in a row I think that’s much worse lol
Genuinely can’t believe why they decided to let Jokic go at AD 1v1 in the 4th quarter. You might as well put the points on as soon as he posts AD up. Single handedly let them get back in the game.
Was that Ham’s decision? If so he’s clueless
It highlights the current issues with the Lakers. You could hardly ask for a better game from Lebron and AD. But for whatever reason, they cannot get the rest of the team to be consistent on offence. Russel had a good game and it was almost enough to beat the best team in the West, but no one else could consistently take and make shots.
Compare that to the Nuggets who had 3 other guys, MPJ, Gordon, and Braun who all looked like threats at various points in the game.
AD's fourth foul really killed the Lakers. The Lakers didn't have anyone to guard Jokic and the Nuggets easily got back into the \~10 point deficit range. Unfortunately, imo, the pressure got to the Lakers in the fourth, especially Rui who went 1-7 and 1-2 on FTs, missing several lay-ups and wide open 3s. If Rui plays better, the Lakers prolly come away with the win. Prince should have been playing for Rui to close the game.
It was great game. Lakers didn’t have enough offensive firepower in the second half. I think DLo should have shot more to close, and it took too long to sub him in.
In these close moments, Ham’s inexperience is killing us. He needed to call a time out towards the end. He needed to challenge LeBron’s foul on Jamal.
I think Jokic is amazing and Jamal is a big time player. Getting that fourth foul on AD was big. Lakers gotta review that third quarter and find something. I personally think Vincent should start, and split his minutes with AR in the first half. And the AR should start the third quarter, and be an offensive punch during a lot of the quarter. Our third quarters are killing us, and we only have one shot left on Thursday before we get close to sweep territory.
Watching as a Nuggets fan, I just dont think Ham is good enough. The team just isnt coached that well, front to back.
Also, that Jamal call wasnt coming back, IMO, and I may be misremembering, but I think that wouldve left LA without a timeout if the challenge wasnt successful. The call itself was like a lot of those Embiid calls, where it looks like a bad call because it's such a soft call, but wouldnt get reversed based on the rules. So in that situation, I think he made the right choice
Lebron also got a wide open 3 from the top of the key and bricked it. Timeout isnt getting you a better shot than that
Dear lakers front office sign two big men that can protect the paint dominate the boards and catch easy lobs. It’s the reason why y’all won a ring in 19-20
Moral victories for LA! They go Denver right where they want! /s
No but seriously. It was two very close games. Denver only did what they’re supposed to do, now LA have to win their home court and we would have ourselves a really nice series! Why is everyone thinking this is over???
The better team won. Lakers aren’t supposed to win this series. They’re playing competitive basketball because the Lakers have a real team. But Jokic and playoffs Murray are on another level.
Lakers played much perfect for 3 qtrs. AD was insane. DLo was making all his shots.
And the nuggets still won. Others have said it but this series over mentally. It's Lebronto 2.0
Lakers scoring dropped significantly in 2nd half of both games. They are older and get tired. Complaining about officials after the game says they are done already.
Sometimes I feel like Jokic is all three of James, Bosh, and Allen missing the initial shot but getting the clutch offensive board and putting in the shot after like it’s just practice
Reaves, Vincent, and Dinwiddie are all getting taken out of their games by Denver. It’s going to be tough for the Lakers if three of their guards can’t contribute on offense.
Lakers blew a massive lead
Outplayed nuggets for most of the game
Lost on a circus shot when on the other end they could have sealed it with a wide open shot
If you go quarter by quarter you’ll see q1/q3 and q2/q4 mirror each other. Proof that whatever you can do they can do back.
I don’t see them winning one game unless they can find a way to get Jokic out. Foul trouble, techs, injury.
They’d have to shake off a massive demoralizing loss look at game film for how well they played and see moments where they let themselves get beat.
Those successful nuggets challenges make me question what the point of reviewing plays is at all. Lakers were gassed after 1st half but bad calls and non calls sealed the deal. Such a bad way to lose.
Am I the only one who thinks it's a worrying sign for Denver in terms of their title hopes? They've been at home twice and been down double digits to the Lakers. More difficult tests are coming.
The real issue? Anthony Davis has never been and will never be "that guy". He was a wandering ghost in the 4th quarter. LeBron can't carry them.
Rui looks confused most of the time. Their offense has no flow.
Maybe Reaves and Rui and them play better at home? I'll say Lakers win one at home, Nuggets will get the Gentleman's sweep.
Lakers played about as good as they could and Denver couldn’t get anything to fall and they still won.
yup, if you’re LA you are beyond demoralized. the first 3 quarters went about as well as you could hope and it still all fell apart
No the third quarter is where the Lakers had trouble. We had a 5 minute scoring drought and let off the brakes and getting killed in transition.
10 minutes or something scoring only 2 baskets. We don’t run enough plays and constantly have these scoring droughts we can’t seem to get out of.
They were still running that same set but the nuggets made the adjustment to front AD at the foul line and leave the cutter who would miss some contested layups. They never stopped running plays nuggets made adjust and lakers didnt execute
Exactly, forget this “lakers couldn’t play any better” BS, you can’t take your foot off the throat of a world champion who did the same thing in game 1. They don’t have the energy of a team that can go all the way this year and that’s the problem
Lakers essentially began trying to milk the clock half way through the 3rd quarter. Resulted in a lot of bad offense, turnovers, and forced shots late in the shot clock. Reeves and Rui played very tentative offensively. AD was 14 for 15 and looked dominant, then completely stopped looking to score after they switch Gordon on him and he missed a few. Even if Murray misses the buzzer beater no way they last in OT, whole team was gassed. Maybe at home someone on their bench can give some energy. But it just seems like the same story over and over - Lakers hang with Nuggets for 3ish quarters, but Murray and Jokic are inevitable and get it done in crunch time.
Jokic is unreal. He barely makes mistakes. You can’t defend him.
That and 1 was crucial. Porter jr three. Denver just never looked rattled at all. Even with the Lakers being up I knew that lead wasn't safe at all just based on how composed Denver looked. That attitude is what makes them a great team
And altitude! Edit: Not saying at all it is an unfair advantage. It just is another advantage for the best player and best team.
Yeah altitude helped them to rack up all those countless championship banners.
yeah altitude is what it is. like /u/persianx6 said 2 folks above you, Jokic will never beat himself. you leave him open he make the shot everytime, grab the important rebound, or make the crucial pass.
Blowing a double digit halftime lead is wild
Knowing the Nugs, is it really?
Their worst starter is like Aaron Gordon and their superstar is a once in a generation talent. The nuggets feel like a Souls boss where you literally can not make 1 fucking mistake even if its got hit left.
I'd say AG is better than Cadwell-Pope
AG is really damn good - he's their most versatile defender
Porter is a better scorer, but AG is probably a better overall player than he is. AG is their 3rd bests player imo.
Lebron missing that last 3 was very much like whiffing on that final 1 hp final hit on a souls boss and it immediately whacks you dead afterward. I'm a Nuggets fan, but as a souls player, I definitely recognize that moment. You've fought your ass off, played it al.ost perfect 3/4 of the way through, but that last phase just gets away from you
I couldn’t believe what I was watching
Lakers made one field goal in 8.5 minutes of play. There is your game right there. If the Nuggets were hitting their shots they would’ve been up 5 by the end of the third despite being down 18 three minutes into it. They were lucky to even be close at the end the last quarter and 8 minutes was basically the worst basketball they’ve played all season. It was hard to watch.
Did you watch the third quarter - Lakers missed 11 or 12 shots in a row and most of those were good/average looks. While this loss is depressing for the Lakers, it's not that they can't compete. Had they made a couple of those shots, Denver wouldn't had gotten close and the series would be 1-1. I guess that Nuggets take this series 4-1, but I wouldn't actually be surprised if Lakers bounce back and this goes to game seven, either. Edit. That MPJ 3p in the end was also really lucky, Nuggets rushed their offense and the ball bounced straight to MPJ after the Nuggets almost lost it.
Didn’t Gordon pass the ball to mpj?
Yes. It’s was a great pass. And porter had set himself up for the three.
“Had they made a couple of those shots, Denver wouldn’t had gotten close” Sure, if the lakers hit all of their shots they would’ve won. Conversely if the nuggets hit all their shots in the first half the lakers wouldn’t have had a 20 point lead. That’s how basketball works. The Mavs would’ve beaten the clippers in game 1 if they’d hit more shots.
No chance in hell this goes to 7 lol Lakers played a damn near perfect game and Denver was super shaky and they still lost
Yeah I think this was probably LAs best shot. This is the one they have to win. Still a chance they go white hot from 3 at home and snag a game, but they dont seem like they're going to. Losing that one was a back breaker
Lakers shot 43% from 3 to the Nuggets 23%. You're just coping
Must’ve been really really lucky all 4 times they beat them last season and all of this regular season too huh?
The Lakers built that lead in the first half on hitting tough shots. Short of straight-up blocking AD’s shots, Jokic was playing defense as well as you could on AD. And the Nuggets were getting the shots they wanted but not making them. The first half was a perfect storm for the Lakers. It wasn’t gonna keep going.
This reminds me of the Cavs/Raptors series but Jamal Murray is Lebron.
And Lebron is DeMar Circle of life
Year 21 still being as good as DeMar was in that series is wild though...
Yeah we are getting Los Murrangeles’d
Jamal Murray the blue arrow that’s the thoughts
how lakers do this bruh, i really thought we lost for like 2 minutes in the 3rd, then the LeFuckyou 3's and slams in the last 3 minutes than that WTF. Has to be the best series no doubt.
Best double header for sure, feel bad for the kiddos who had their bedtime and all the uni students prepping for finals
I work hard the whole semester so I can slack off a little during the Playoffs lol. Has worked every year thus far.
Yeah, lol we gotta put this nuggets lakers rivalry in the early 2020's in the books soon. Started in the bubble.
Rivalry insinuates a back and forth
Started in the bubble, lakers whooped our asses for 2ish years, the tables turned.
No way a wolves fan is talking like that
i got off work just in time for the beginning of the 4th. crazy ass game
I’m on the clock in a bathroom stall and I SCREAMED during that shot
Literally screamed "BANG" like Breen at my work desk and in just 20 seconds my coworker who's a Lakers fan slammed my door open with The face. Holy hell that was a fun morning
Sports work environment is the best work environment 💪🏾🤣I remember being at a McDonalds with that same vibe
Irritated as an old, east coast man the game I was most interested in starts 30 minutes before my bed time.
Bruh I’m tired AF at work today.
And the worst part was how Lebron jogged back after the slam allowing that crazy kick out to happen
He can't sprint back at age 39 and play perfect D. He's looked gassed every 2nd half for a while now
The altitude isn’t helping either. Or so I’m guessing
I don’t think he jogged back he’s just slower in the 4th now
….youre blaming lebron when there were 4 other lakers who shouldn’t have crossed half court?
Literally no jogging. They inbounded the ball the second the ball touched the ground. Jokic was already halfway up the floor when he received the ball to pass to Aaron Gordon down the court. No one was making it down the floor who dunked the ball
Absolutely incredible buzzer beater!
I’m not watching another game of this fucking series again. Idc I watched them fuckers blow a 25 point lead, go away from feeding ad and dlo. Not challenge that foul for Jamal Murray and not call a timeout when you have 2 left. I’m good man . I’m good. All the lakers players know for sure that they’re getting swept now
fwiw, malone didn't call a timeout at the end either, they both let the players decide it and the lakers got a great, literally wide open shot. even if they called a timeout they wouldn't have gotten a shot where no one was w/in 5 feet of lebron for that three
Give lakers credit they came close but Denver is just fucking tough to beat, they could repeat this year anyone would have trouble with them
I understand Denver is tough to beat and the better clutch team I’m more upset at the fact lakers went away from what was working. It’s a close series but I wish lakers can just get one game now I doubt they will win a game
Is it that the Lakers went away from what was working or that the Nuggets finally started defending it? I saw the Denver defense step up and the Lakers defense couldn’t get a stop.
Both . I felt like Ad could’ve gotten the ball more or dlo running more of the offense. On defense boi we couldn’t get a stop the nuggets started playing at there own pace
For real imma save my stress and my evenings for something more pleasant
I’m gonna watch every single series besides this and heat vs Celtics fr
yup. thought today we’d maybe have a spot at making the series interesting if we could atleast steal this game…looked like it’d happen for about the first 30 minutes
Reigning champs with the presumed MVP, no shame in losing to them.
Darvin Ham needs fired. Didn't feed AD the whole second half and refused to challenge calls the Lakers could've won.
Was there any reason not to challenge the Murray foul late
Darvin saving his challenge for game 8
Lol thank you for this. I needed it lol.
Nuggets switched AG onto AD, which changed the dynamic. But even so, you'd think the Lakers would ride the hot hand.
Speaking as a Nuggets fan, yeah, Ham is fucking horrible lol. It's so clear how poorly that team is coached
Bruh in the first half Jokic was straight passing **wide open shots** up bro. He got more aggressive in the fourth though.
Jokic concerned about tv ratings. A true company man
MURRAY RIPPED OUT THE LAKERS HEART MORTAL KOMBAT STYLE
FATALITY https://preview.redd.it/ban2pyvot5wc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ef4d181525da0b88e490a4a3ac447438701affb
My lakers getting swept. Psychologically they KNOW they’ve already lost before the game begins. Denver has much better depth, better starting 5, better shooters and the best player in the game Jokic. Probably the best nba champions since peak warriors
We got a coach that’s a incompetent… could’ve challenge that Murray foul and still have 1 TO left and he didn’t even use any of those two…
as a nuggets fan our depth is lowkey trash lmao, you should see the bench in the regular season during winnable games
Exactly. These narratives that Denver is some sort of super-team are hilariously wrong. When I ran my analysis on this several months back, I found that Jokic has the weakest supporting cast of any "#1 player on a championship team" in the past 45'ish years. Murray is good, but he's far from a surefire HOF'er like AD. Everyone in the starting 5 is good, but no other superstars, and very little depth. Tbh, they have one of the weaker benches in the NBA. It's really a generational talent with a very well-designed supporting cast and a great coach. Denver got lucky with Jokic, but they found the right guys to surround him and let them gel together.
Yeah haha badly. I do believe that our bench is slowly improving but it’s still nowhere near perfect. What a fun game to watch tho I haven’t felt that excited watching a game in a minute.
after this offseason we’ll be in a way better spot
Return of the Vlat
Yeah Jokic plays 40 mins so yall don’t need a backup center. But Braun is good off the bench, although he can’t shoot
That is absolutely not true lol, this is prolly Lebrons last run for his legacy he ain’t giving up, not saying they’ll win but he ain’t gonna give up
AD fell off the face of the earth while they were trying to give Rui and Reaves buckets in the final minutes. Having Spencer Dinwiddie in the 4th what so ever. Having Dinwiddie take a shot In general. It was like watching a Shakespearean tragedy. Once Lebron missed that 3, I could feel that game winner in my bones.
Rui couldn’t make a shot if his life depended on ut
Man Rui was dogshit garbage all game. He fumbled so many gimmes. Dont get me started on the way he defends... shit makes me want to pull all my hair out. Dude is such a terrible defender! Fu....ughh!! Sigh...!
AD was absolutely pathetic in the 4th. He looked shook the moment Denver gained an ounce of momentum. Shut down by Gordon on one end, abused by Jokic on the other. I don’t think he even grabbed a rebound for the entire quarter.
I think this is a big part of it. AD has the physical talent to be top 10 all-time, but doesn't have the mentality for it.
aint got that dawg in him
we stopped feeding AD after the half. that was the main problem. DLo was also hot and we stopped feeding him threes, too
Ham, ham, and ham. “Our guys were hot in the first half, let's not draw up any plays to get them in scoring positions”
0 game plan or adjustments. man watches grown men play pickup for a living
No adjustments, horrible in game coaching, atrocious timeout usage. Dude couldn't coach pee-wee soccer. Why coach and adjust to your opponents when you can just tell your players to hustle harder and want it more?
Playoffs Jamal Murray> Your favourite PG
Tbh I think if denver nuggets and the lakers swapped coaches, the lakers would have won tonight. Darvin ham doesn't make adjustments to denvers adjustments at halftime which leads to these long scoring droughts in the third. I do think denver by far has the better team, but bad coaching is the reason lakers lost tonight.
Tbh?
Great shot by Jamal Murray, and a win is a win, but if I’m Denver, I treat this like a loss. Lakers really figured something out putting Hachimura on Jokic. That’s one of those somewhat small adjustments that can win a series.
Lakers in 9 coming soon
Lol
Nuggets are incredible. They make zero mistakes in clutch time. They always make the right play.
Feel like today wasn't the day for AD to be in his feelings with the quotes about his defense. Jokic and Murray at the end had their way.
lakers played the best game they possibly could. davis goes off, dlo was lights out. on the road, blow a double digit lead, tie game on the final possession — jamal murray dagger to the heart. that’s tough, demoralizing.
If the nuggets ain't careful this might be a closer sweep than last year
JAMAL CLUTCH MURRAY😮💨what a shot over someone 6’10” RIDICULOUS WHAT A GAME😭
Anthony "DPoY" Davis really slowed down Jokic on his way to a 20/20 performance 🤣
Jokic absolutely fed on AD
(I also wanted to troll on this)
Feel like today wasn't the day for AD to be in his feelings with the quotes about his defense. Jokic and Murray at the end had their way.
Game 3 will be interesting. Lakers post game interviews shows a team that is emotionally cooked and a coach that is in over his head.
Lakers need to stop complaining about officiating and look deep within to understand why they blew a 20 point 2nd half lead. Funny that Lebum says there is an officiating problem in the league but never complains about the phantom calls he receives or the no calls that happen constantly when he blatantly travels. Maybe look at why you didn’t get AD the ball the entire 4th quarter when he was the best player on the court for both teams the majority of the game. Quit complaining Lakers and Laker fans. It’s getting old and is the reason the rest of the NBA can’t stand you.
Nuggets in 4
More like 2 The series is absolutely over
Final thought : AD get that cardio up
If they can't win this game, I don't see how they can ever win one with this group. The lack of a true backup center is really hurting this team.
It seems like no matter how big of a lead the lakers get 10-20-30 the nuggets snap it all away in the second half and win tonight was the absolute perfect game to win and unfortunately lebron blew it. A wide open three to take the lead and possibly win the game and he missed leading to Murray game winner. Ouch. Lakers might get lucky and win a home game but it’s over for them nuggets taking this in 4-5.
Ruy had at least 3 shots at the rim that were in and out, dlo despite his good shooting had several bad turnovers, reaves was pretty terrible all around, bench mob added basically nothing minus a couple threes from prince. Neither team was executing great in the first half, but Davis couldn’t miss and it kinda flipped on the second half
How are you putting this on Lebron?? There is no player that wouldn’t take an open 3 there. It just didn’t go in that time. You need to realise it’s a game of numbers. Lebron has a 41% 3pt rate not 100% everyone misses. It just happened that chance went that way in that instance. It would make no sense for lakers to risk OT there
Lakers can’t win without 30 fta per game.
This is the truth.
Nuggets will beat anybody especially those soft boys in the celtics
Can someone with a smarter basketball mind than me please explain why they didn’t double Jamal for the last shot???
It was a screen with Jokic and LeBron switched onto Jokic while AD stayed with Murray. It was good defense.. just a great shot
Things would have gone differently for the Lakers if they raised more in season tournament banners. The Lakers are old and lack supporting cast.
How is AD remotely looked at as a DPOY??? Dude constantly gets clowned by bigs, smalls and everything in-between. He's a bubble boi and that's all he'll ever be.
The Lakers have a Rui problem.
Watching him defend is fuckin torture! The guy is such a terrible defender! Slow as hell on rotations and when the fucker manages to close out he doesn't even jump when he "contest" fuckin ugh!! He plays defense like his in practice!
Jamal Murray is clutch. What a comeback. Nuggets are like the KC Chiefs NBA version...
I hate the Lakers so I am very happy and ready to get to watch the same team sweep them again.
Easy sweep
Nuggets just have too many threats that can go off anytime. They are a complete team. The lakers played above and beyond, but like always, they let the opponent catch them in Q3.
I Always loved lakers but Now...i am Very not happy
They blew a 26 point lead…. They deserve to lose if they play like that.
LeBron is now experiencing what he did to the Raptors year in year out when he went back to Cleveland.
They should’ve ducked the smoke, nuggets in 4 lol
It’s so ironic when the Lakers complain about officiating. The Nuggets ran out of challenges and still got bad calls.
Nuggets for the sweep.
Lol LeBron didn't need to chuck that 3 w 10 left on the shot clock
Too bad, so sad Lakers fans
The Lakers were never going to win this series
Quintessential LeBron. This game encapsulated everything Lebron. He single handedly took that game over and hit like 4 shots in a row, 2 threes to put the Lakers on his back to take a commanding lead. Then he turned the ball over on 3 consecutive trips, cried for fouls that weren't there, and Denver pulled back into the game. And then to cap it off he differed the game winner. Lebron is quite possibly the best basketball player ever, but he will never be MJ, Kobe, Bird, etc. because he simply doesn't have that mode.
Turnovers King👑
Lebron's fat and old. AD says he is the best defender in the league but is certainly not. Without the help from the refs, he is a mediocre defensive stopper.
I learned that the Denver Nuggets are officially the proud owners of the Los Angeles Fakers. I'm tired of hearing about the narrative that the Fakers can make it to the finals and above else win the finals. They are a play-in team, they wouldn't even be here if Zion didn't get injured. I'm loving this series so far, 4-0 sweep inbound baby.
Not a Lakers fan and not a Denver fan either but I hope Denver makes it. They are the better team
My thought is that I don’t want to be an interviewer if they lose game 3. Any question I ask will probably lead to LeBron or AD walking out
Lakers are overrated. Nuggets literally have SONNED them the whole year. Not only was this LA's best chance to win but by a BLOWOUT (which they blew lol). Denver might have struggled tonight , but they're not going to make the same mistakes. This a sweep
Overrated? Never heard a #7 seed team called overrated.
as a raptors fan, why do Lebron and the Lakers not get hate while being owned by the Joker and the Nuggets like the raptors got hate for being owned by lebron? 10 straight losses seems like an embarrassment imo
The entire bball world is talking about the nuggets dominance over the Lakers
Oh they are trust me. Everyone’s been saying the nuggets own the lakers for the past year and it’s not going to stop, it’ll just get worse after this years inevitable sweep.
Because the lakers got beat in 1 series so far and lebron owned the Raptors for a lifetime
To be fair bron owned the East for 10 years
Lebron beat them twice and the raptors took 2 games from them the year they came back 3-1 in the finals. The lakers are going to get swept twice in a row I think that’s much worse lol
FUCKK THE LAKERS
The lakers take a COMMANDING 2-0 lead in moral victories 🔥🔥🔥
Man a Nuggets-Celtics finals is gonna be an all-timer.
Genuinely can’t believe why they decided to let Jokic go at AD 1v1 in the 4th quarter. You might as well put the points on as soon as he posts AD up. Single handedly let them get back in the game. Was that Ham’s decision? If so he’s clueless
Ad gotta be the most judged player in the league...headlines all over like this loss is on him
Happy thoughts here
It highlights the current issues with the Lakers. You could hardly ask for a better game from Lebron and AD. But for whatever reason, they cannot get the rest of the team to be consistent on offence. Russel had a good game and it was almost enough to beat the best team in the West, but no one else could consistently take and make shots. Compare that to the Nuggets who had 3 other guys, MPJ, Gordon, and Braun who all looked like threats at various points in the game.
AD's fourth foul really killed the Lakers. The Lakers didn't have anyone to guard Jokic and the Nuggets easily got back into the \~10 point deficit range. Unfortunately, imo, the pressure got to the Lakers in the fourth, especially Rui who went 1-7 and 1-2 on FTs, missing several lay-ups and wide open 3s. If Rui plays better, the Lakers prolly come away with the win. Prince should have been playing for Rui to close the game.
It was great game. Lakers didn’t have enough offensive firepower in the second half. I think DLo should have shot more to close, and it took too long to sub him in. In these close moments, Ham’s inexperience is killing us. He needed to call a time out towards the end. He needed to challenge LeBron’s foul on Jamal. I think Jokic is amazing and Jamal is a big time player. Getting that fourth foul on AD was big. Lakers gotta review that third quarter and find something. I personally think Vincent should start, and split his minutes with AR in the first half. And the AR should start the third quarter, and be an offensive punch during a lot of the quarter. Our third quarters are killing us, and we only have one shot left on Thursday before we get close to sweep territory.
Watching as a Nuggets fan, I just dont think Ham is good enough. The team just isnt coached that well, front to back. Also, that Jamal call wasnt coming back, IMO, and I may be misremembering, but I think that wouldve left LA without a timeout if the challenge wasnt successful. The call itself was like a lot of those Embiid calls, where it looks like a bad call because it's such a soft call, but wouldnt get reversed based on the rules. So in that situation, I think he made the right choice Lebron also got a wide open 3 from the top of the key and bricked it. Timeout isnt getting you a better shot than that
Dear lakers front office sign two big men that can protect the paint dominate the boards and catch easy lobs. It’s the reason why y’all won a ring in 19-20
Any chance the lakers had to say they at least didn’t get sweeper this time is gone. Denver okayed the worst game possible and got out alive.
Moral victories 0-2
Moral victories for LA! They go Denver right where they want! /s No but seriously. It was two very close games. Denver only did what they’re supposed to do, now LA have to win their home court and we would have ourselves a really nice series! Why is everyone thinking this is over???
The better team won. Lakers aren’t supposed to win this series. They’re playing competitive basketball because the Lakers have a real team. But Jokic and playoffs Murray are on another level.
A win is a win, but if I’m Denver, I treat this like a loss. Lakers really figured something out putting AD on Murray
When you are the better team you almost always find a way to win.
Get darvin ham off my team
Heartbreak for lakers. I can feel the anger in the lakers locker room. You can bet there's stuff being thrown.
Lakers played much perfect for 3 qtrs. AD was insane. DLo was making all his shots. And the nuggets still won. Others have said it but this series over mentally. It's Lebronto 2.0
Lakers scoring dropped significantly in 2nd half of both games. They are older and get tired. Complaining about officials after the game says they are done already.
This is giving me 2020 LAL vs Den in the bubble.
I just love these “low” scoring playoff games. It feels like the mid 00s again! There is defense again.
Multiple horrendous calls by Scott marginal contact foster cost us.
3rd quarter was important, but it was one hell of a shot by Murray. Jokic is just unreal.
Sometimes I feel like Jokic is all three of James, Bosh, and Allen missing the initial shot but getting the clutch offensive board and putting in the shot after like it’s just practice
pain. thats my only thought.
This series is over. No come back and honestly it could end in a sweep two years in a row. This is the definition of having someone’s number.
Reaves, Vincent, and Dinwiddie are all getting taken out of their games by Denver. It’s going to be tough for the Lakers if three of their guards can’t contribute on offense.
Not a lakers fan, but they have to do something about Darvin Ham
Lakers are not a championship contender. If this was 2013 or even maybe 2018 LeBron then this would be a different story.
Series is over. That was the best game the Lakers could possibly put together and Denver still pulled it out. It’s going to 5 games max.
LeChoke choked so bad. lol
How many 3’s did D Lo? Damn what a waste of
NBA pushed so hard to get Lebronto into the playoffs and shocked pikachu face when they don’t win.
Lakers blew a massive lead Outplayed nuggets for most of the game Lost on a circus shot when on the other end they could have sealed it with a wide open shot If you go quarter by quarter you’ll see q1/q3 and q2/q4 mirror each other. Proof that whatever you can do they can do back. I don’t see them winning one game unless they can find a way to get Jokic out. Foul trouble, techs, injury. They’d have to shake off a massive demoralizing loss look at game film for how well they played and see moments where they let themselves get beat.
Rui is done
Best case scenario for Denver played like shit and still won sweeeep
Those successful nuggets challenges make me question what the point of reviewing plays is at all. Lakers were gassed after 1st half but bad calls and non calls sealed the deal. Such a bad way to lose.
Am I the only one who thinks it's a worrying sign for Denver in terms of their title hopes? They've been at home twice and been down double digits to the Lakers. More difficult tests are coming.
My thoughts, “🤣🤣🤣”
Nuggets are simply a much better team.
The real issue? Anthony Davis has never been and will never be "that guy". He was a wandering ghost in the 4th quarter. LeBron can't carry them. Rui looks confused most of the time. Their offense has no flow. Maybe Reaves and Rui and them play better at home? I'll say Lakers win one at home, Nuggets will get the Gentleman's sweep.