Lakers vs. Nuggets: Western Conference Finals with the same big names as in 2020, but some notable differences

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By Webdesk



The Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets meet in the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday, and if you’re feeling a bit of a deja vu, it’s because these two teams met in the 2020 Conference Finals. When the NBA decided to halt the season due to the COVID pandemic in Orlando, the Nuggets and Lakers battled it out in five games where LA would go on to win the series and eventually defeat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

Funnily enough, the Eastern Conference Finals is also a rematch of the 2020 bubble between the Heat and Celtics, so some real Groundhog Day stuff is happening in the NBA right now. But while it’s normal to compare the two meetings to draw conclusions about what we’re about to see, it’s pretty clear that the differences outweigh the similarities in this upcoming series.

For starters, only a handful of players on both sides remain the same. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the only two remnants of the Lakers’ 2020 championship team, while Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. the only ones were for the previous postseason meeting between Denver and LA

Roster construction is the most obvious difference between now and the 2020 Western Conference Finals, but there are quite a few key ones that could shape this series. With that in mind, as we get ready for the Lakers and Nuggets to face off again, let’s take a look at five of the key similarities and differences between the bubble matchup and what we’ll see in the 2023 Western Conference Finals on line up.

1. Davis should dominate like he did in 2020

The most exciting matchup in this series will be between Davis and Jokic. In 2020, Davis completely dominated the Nuggets, who had no adequate answer to stop him. With limited options in the frontcourt, Davis averaged a team-high 31.2 points and 6.2 rebounds over the five games while shooting 54.3% from the field. Oh, and he also exhausted this game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer in Game 2 of that series to give the Lakers a commanding 2-0 lead.

If Davis hadn’t hit that 3-pointer, the Nuggets would have tied the series at one game apiece, and we might have gotten a different outcome than the one we got, which was LA Denver rolling on steam.

The bad news for the Nuggets is that they should run into the same problem if they try to contain AD again. With Aaron Gordon likely tasked with guarding LeBron James all series, Denver has no other quality forward or center to stop Davis from getting what he wants. As much as Jokic will try to make life difficult for Davis, he just isn’t good enough as a defender to make that much of an impact.

If the Nuggets try to help defend Davis, he is a high IQ passer and will find the open man on a back door cut to the brim or throw him back to the perimeter. The Lakers don’t have the perimeter shooters they had in 2020, so Denver might decide to leave someone like Jarred Vanderbilt or Dennis Schroder open to put more pressure on Davis.

The bottom line is that Denver doesn’t have the staff to match Davis, which was the same problem they had in 2020. So the best they can hope for is to limit everyone else and force AD ​​to beat them. If that doesn’t work, the Nuggets could be in trouble.

2. Lakers don’t have that many bodies to throw at Jokic

One of the reasons LA succeeded against Denver in 2020 was because they had other guys who could get physical enough with Jokic and make him uncomfortable. Between Davis, Dwight Howard, and even JaVale McGee, the Lakers had several guys to wear Jokic down over the course of the series. That same tactic may not work this time around, as outside of Davis, the Lakers don’t really have the luxury of extra bigs they can afford to take over Jokic’s defense when AD gets into big trouble.

The physicality that Jokic plays with can tire guys out, and if that happens to Davis, Lakers coach Darvin Ham will have to figure out who he can rely on to fill that void when AD needs a rest. This is perhaps where we see some minutes of Tristan Thompson, who signed the team just before the postseason, probably for a situation like this. Thompson won’t be able to stop Jokic, but he’s a new body that LA can throw at Jokic to give Davis some rest. Mo Bamba is another option, although he will likely get bullied in the paint by Jokic.

The Lakers could try to get smaller with Vanderbilt, but his lack of offensive threat doesn’t bode well for LA on the other side of the floor. There really isn’t a surefire option for the Lakers this time around, and if they can’t figure out who else can guard Jokic over Davis, then the Nuggets will have the upper hand in this series.

3. Nuggets upgrade to monitor LeBron

One of the underrated aspects of Denver’s playoff success so far has been Gordon’s defense. He defeated Karl-Anthony Towns in the first round, stopped Kevin Durant from going supernova in the conference semifinals, and now he will have his toughest test yet to check LeBron James. In 2020, that defensive James role was filled by Jerami Grant, another capable defender, but too small to really make an impact. Although Grant and Gordon are the same height, Gordon is much stronger than Grant, making him an ideal person to guard LeBron.

Gordon’s athleticism should also help him in this battle, especially as LeBron tries to go downhill. But while Gordon is equipped to guard LeBron, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. The Lakers are going to put in so many screens to try and get Gordon off LeBron, and try to throw Jokic into switches, giving LeBron the go-ahead towards the rim. This could end up being the biggest wrench in the series, as we already know that Davis is likely going to feast while Jokic guards him. So if Gordon can keep LeBron in check or at least turn him into a facilitator instead of a goal scorer, that’s a plus for Denver.

4. A repeat of bubble Murray

The Orlando bubble provided some truly elite performances, and Murray has been at the center of a few of them. It has been the crown jewel of Murray’s career thus far, including two 50-point first-round outings against the Utah Jazz and a 40-point against the Clippers in the conference semifinals. While he didn’t score in ridiculous groups against the Lakers in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, he still averaged 25 points, 7.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds on 51.8% of the field. It was an extremely efficient series from Murray, who got pretty much everything he wanted against an LA defense that, despite elite defenseman Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, was able to set them on fire during the five-game series.

Fortunately for Murray and the Nuggets, Caldwell-Pope is now wearing a Denver jersey and Caruso is no longer wearing purple and gold. Instead, Murray will have guys like D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Schroder picking him up. Schroder could be a nuisance for Murray, but he’s slightly underpowered in that matchup, barely making the starting lineup for Game 6 against the Warriors. The Nuggets may try to target Russell as he is the weakest defender in the base unit, something the Lakers cannot allow. Figuring out Murray how to capitalize on some of those mismatches will be key for the Nuggets in this series.

5. The depth of the Lakers is more productive than in 2020

When the Lakers and Nuggets faced off in 2020, it was LeBron and Davis in particular who did all the damage. They received the necessary contributions from role players such as Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma, but Denver just couldn’t handle the tandem of LeBron-Davis. Outside of those two, only Caldwell-Pope averaged double digits in points over the course of that streak.

Lakers score in 2020 Western Conference Finals vs. nuggets

Anthony Davis

31.2

LeBron James

27.0

Kentavy Caldwell-Pope

11.2

Kyle Kuzma

9.6

Dwight Howard

8.2

You could argue that the Lakers didn’t really need big role player appearances since LA covered Denver in five games, but it was clear the Lakers’ plan was to bulldoze LeBron and Davis over the Nuggets, and it worked too .

But while that probably wouldn’t work this time against a Denver team that’s much improved from 2020, the Lakers are also getting a lot more production out of role players in the postseason so far. The Lakers’ top five scorers in the playoffs are scoring in double digits, a shocking improvement from their 2020 title season. Even more impressive, two of those three scorers were pulled over at the trade deadline, showing that the moves LA is making February has made a positive impact on the trading market in more ways than one.

Lakers to score in the 2023 playoffs

LeBron James

23.4

Anthony Davis

21.2

D’Angelo Russell

15.7

Austin Reaves

15.4

Rui Hachimura

11.2

If that production continues from guys like Russell, Reaves and Hachimura, then the Lakers won’t have to rely so much on AD and LeBron to put up astronomical numbers to get them to the finish line against the Nuggets.

While there are a few similarities in this game to the previous one from 2020, the major differences show that these are not the same teams that met three years ago in the Orlando bubble. Those differences will be important factors in the course of this series, and it will determine which team gets to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.





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