In one corner, we have the juggernaut Los Angeles Lakers. They are right where we thought they would be. In the other corner, we’ve got the Denver Nuggets. The team who refuses to die. Are these 3rd seeded Nuggets punching above their weight class by facing off against the number 1 seed Lakers? Let’s take a closer look at the 2020 West Finals.
The Matchup
Los Angeles Lakers
- 52-19, 1st in West
- Round 1: 4-1 over Portland
- Round 2: 4-1 over Houston
- All-Stars: Lebron James and Anthony Davis
Denver Nuggets
- 46-27, 3rd in West
- Round 1: 4-3 over Utah
- Round 2: 4-3 over Los Angeles Clippers
- All-Stars: Nikola Jokic
Season Series
- Game 1: December 3, 2019: Lakers won 105-96
- Game 2: December 22, 2019: Nuggets won 128-104
- Final matchup before the break: February 12, 2020: Lakers won 120-116(OT)
- Game 4: August 10, 2020 (@Orlando bubble): Lakers won 124-121
- Overall: Lakers won 3-1
Regular Season Takeaways
- Rebounding: The only games the Nuggets won were when they managed to tie the Lakers in rebounding or beat them outright.
- Lebron was out for game 2 which was Denver’s only win.
- If we take out game 2, each game was close.
- LA’s game 1 win was closer than the 9 points suggests.
- Game 3 went to overtime where Anthony Davis took over.
- Game 4 (in the bubble) featured Denver playing everyone 20 min yet LA played Lebron and AD 38 minutes each.
- The game in the bubble is the most intriguing in that the Lakers were down 5 with less than 2 minutes left.
- They needed Kyle Kuzma’s gamewinner over Bol Bol to seal the deal.
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Denver will miss their mile high advantage dearly. That actually makes a huge difference.
Great prospective , done your homework
Never been a believer in Murray, but obviously I was wrong. I am rooting for a regression from that 49% from 3 in this series which should make things easier enough for the real LA nba team.