![]() ![]() Rui Hachimura, who comes off the Lakers’ bench and is averaging 21.2 minutes per game in the playoffs, has six fouls that he can use against Jokic too. He’ll be barbeque chicken in the post and doesn’t have the size or strength to make Jokic work. Jarred Vanderbilt, a former Nugget, started 11 of the Lakers’ 12 playoff games and will spend a lot of time guarding Jokic. The Lakers will surely guard Jokic 1-on-1 with Davis more than they did in that 2020 series, simply because Los Angeles doesn’t have the overall length that they did three seasons ago. Here's the defense anthony davis played on steph for what turned out to be the warriors' final two shots /uvxb63Hnts- Dan Favale May 9, 2023 In the playoffs this year, Davis has been a beast on the defensive end of the floor. Defensively, he matched up on Jokic but was also a roaming, weak-side rim protector that Jokic and the Nuggets’ offense had to constantly worry about. It felt like he couldn’t miss a jump shot at times. He averaged 31.2 points and was a scoring machine. The Lakers were able to use their length - an effective Dwight Howard averaged 20.2 minutes per game and JaVale McGee averaged 7.6 minutes and played double-digit minutes in Los Angeles’ Games 1 and 2 wins - to bother Jokic.ĭavis was sensational. the Spurs, which was Jokic’s first career playoff series). It’s the lowest scoring average Jokic has had in his postseason career (his second lowest was 23.1 points per game in the 2019 first round vs. Jokic averaged 21.8 points (53.2 FG%, 35.7 3P%), 7.2 rebounds, and 5 assists per game against Davis and the Lakers in 2020. ![]() Davis got the better of Jokic in that series, definitely outplayed him, and Jokic had what’s by his standards now considered a bad playoff series. Let’s flashback to the 2020 Western Conference Finals for a second. Key storylines that will shape the series Game 1 of Nuggets-Lakers is Tuesday night (6:30 pm MT) at Ball Arena. The Lakers beat both the Grizzlies and Warriors in six games to get to the Conference Finals. For a flyover, disrespected, and many times straight-up forgotten team like the Nuggets to prove their legitimacy, they should have to beat the franchise that’s lived the ultimate NBA life of luxury and prestige. For Jokic to prove his standing as the unquestioned best player in the NBA, he should have to go through LeBron James. It would make a championship that much more special. To make the story of this era of Nuggets basketball complete, Denver should have to exorcise its past playoff demons. In the 2020 playoffs - the one in the Disney World bubble where Mason Plumlee tried to switch a screen that didn’t exist - the Lakers won in five.īut playing the Lakers this year and at this time in the Nikola Jokic era, just feel right. In their 2009 affair - the series where Anthony Carter couldn’t inbound the ball, not once but twice - the Lakers won in six. ![]() When Denver and Los Angeles matched up in the 1985 West Finals, the Lakers dismantled the Nuggets in five games. Four of those meetings came in the first round. The Lakers have won all seven of those series. And to get there, Denver must take down an opponent that’s been the Nuggets’ kryptonite for most of their existence. After bulldozing the Timberwolves in five games and knocking off the Suns in six, the Nuggets have a chance to advance their first Finals in their NBA franchise history. ![]()
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