Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:57 pm Post subject: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 4-22-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
Still Can’t Close... Rough one for the Lakers as it was in their grasp.
The Laker guards set the tone offensively with their aggressiveness early. Russell hit three threes out of the gates. Reaves got into the paint and midrange. Meanwhile, LeBron helped set the tone defensively by drawing a charge and rejecting a Murray dunk attempt at the rim. L.A. had an early 22-11 lead.
But the Nuggets chipped away at the lead until it was just 4 by the end of the quarter.
Russell’s shooting helped keep the Nuggets from overcoming the Lakers in the second quarter. Then, AD got after it in the post with jumphooks, turnarounds and hitting a couple of midrange as the Lakers put together an 11-2 run. Russell capped off his sixth three off the half on the Lakers final possession as L.A. took a 59-44 lead at the half.
The Lakers worked the Bron/AD two-man game out of the gates in the second half for a series of three-point plays (two And-1s for AD and a Reaves three). That pushed the lead to 20 points after a couple minutes of action and forced an early timeout.
The Laker offense grinded to halt after that. As AD picked up his fourth foul later in the third and sat, the Lakers had no field goals for a 4-minute stretch and the lead was trimmed in half to 79-69 heading into the fourth.
The Laker offense was very myopic in the fourth quarter. While LeBron was carrying the load with multiple big scores, they didn’t get AD back in the mix. The guards were not integrated well. Meanwhile, down the stretch the Nuggets picked on AD in the post for big scores by Jokic.
Russell finally got the ball and scored on a big drive with a minute left to go up 2. On the other end, Murray attacked LeBron off the dribble and drew a touch foul. No review from Ham (the Nuggets had two foul calls overturned, including one where Russell was hit on the head earlier in the game).
Key sequence in the final minute. LeBron had no one around and the ball at the three line with 14 seconds left, score tied. “I had a wide open look and it rimmed out,” Bron said. He had come up big on multiple occasions in the fourth, but not this one.
On the other end, the Lakers needed to get a stop with the game tied. They switched as Murray moved to his right across the court. AD took him on the right side in front of the Nugget bench, gave up too much space and Murray hit the stepback at the buzzer for the win.
The Nuggets had seven straight makes to close the game. AD couldn’t get some key stops. The Lakers fell 101-99 and got down 2-0.
They’ve got to protect the home court now. They will live or die in L.A.
LeBron -- -- They started picking on Jokic on the two-man game to start the second half. Bron with the ball in his hands setting the table. That worked well to start as Bron got the ball to AD for some And-1s and hit Reaves for a big three. We then switched to Rui as the roll man with the Nuggets moved Jokic to Rui. He got Rui a couple buckets with that, but our offensive mix became very predictable. In the fourth, Bron came up with several scores. He hit two big threes to push the lead to 8 with 5:38 left. There was a big turnover in the post where KCP stripped him. He hit another leaner And-1 in the post against KCP with 4 minutes left to go up 6, but he missed the FT (got to hit those). Huge play by Bron with 1:30, stealing the ball from Murray and taking it the distance for a huge dunk. (Too bad we can’t celebrate that play.) He’d get another layup on a drive. With 14 seconds left, he was wide open at the three line, game tied and missed it. He had some huge clutch scores, but that one hurt. It seemed like he missed several easy ones at the rim throughout the game, as well. Late in the game, he was on Murray for a couple possessions. The Nuggets got a huge touch foul on one of those with under a minute left. As mentioned above, a couple huge defensive plays by Bron to start this game. He also kept those turnovers in check. You knew he wasn’t going to be as sloppy as that first game. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 9-19 shooting (3-6 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 12 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +2.
Davis -- -- He couldn’t get some big stops down the stretch. Jokic got some easy ones in the post and then Murray hit that jumper over him at the buzzer. There was a stretch early in the game, where AD was crushing it offensively. We fed him again and again for post scores. In the second half, we ran a lot of two-man action to target Jokic on the screen-roll. AD got some early scores off that. The Nuggets switched to put Gordon on AD. I think we went to the post against that match up maybe twice. It wasn’t a lot. But down the stretch in this game. The Nuggets went to Jokic for those scores and we couldn’t work an advantage for AD. I think he had one shot in the fourth quarter. When he’s not getting the ball a lot, he’s usually trying to get something done on the offensive glass. He couldn’t impose himself there and it’s possible he was gassed with the altitude. Got to get it done on the home court. “We have stretches where we don’t know what we are doing on both ends of the court,” AD said. Sure seems like it. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 14-19 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 11 boards (1 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +0.
Russell -- -- He had 9 of the Lakers first 11 points with three threes. As the half went along, he’d drill more beyond the arc, finishing with six threes in the half. Some sloppy passing in this game, a cross-court feed to Bron that was risky. An awful lob pass to AD with a couple men on him and Rui open in the corner. It looked like he earned FTs on a possession against Porter where he was hit in the head on the drive. The Nuggets challenged and it was overturned (he was hit on the head, but they said it didn’t deserve FTs). One possession game, that’s huge. “I don’t understand what is going on in the replay center to be honest,” Bron said. Late in the game, we put the ball back in Russell’s hand on a play and he got a huge layup to go up 2 with a minute left. Not enough variety in the offense in the fourth quarter. The Lakers had flow early in this game involving their backcourt. They went away from that and scored 40 points in the second half. “I like our fight,” Russell said heading to L.A. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 8-16 shooting (7-11 from three) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 39 minutes. He was a +4.
Reaves -- -- Not sure how he didn’t get to that bad pass by Jokic late in the game. That led to a huge three. Nothing he did wrong really in transition. Looked like he was right there, just didn’t come up with it. Murray was 2-10 for 4 points in the first half, he was 3-16 after three quarters for 6 points. He’d score big with 14 points on 6-8 shooting in the fourth. The big one was over AD and we had Bron on him for a couple possessions, as well down the stretch. Couldn’t get the stops. Offensively, he was very aggressive to start the game. I think the Laker guards wanted to make the Nugget guards work. Reaves was able to get into the paint and the midrange. We went away from that after the first quarter. In the second half, Reaves drained a three off the Bron/AD two-man sequence we were running. We made Murray the help man during that stretch. Reaves didn’t touch the ball for quite a while after that. He bailed out the offense on an iso baseline pull-up with 3 minutes left. He’d miss a big three off another busted play with 1:40 left. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-11 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +5.
Hachimura -- -- A lot of responsibility for him on the defensive end against Jokic. He battled, and helped hold the line when AD got into that foul trouble. We need a bigger game from him offensively. Can’t have him missing the wide open ones he did. We get Russell back in this game and Rui disappears completely. As the Nuggets put Jokic on him to switch how they defended the Bron/AD two-man game. We got Rui a layup and some FTs (got to make both of those FTs). He missed a huge wide open three with 2 minutes left. The Lakers had some great looks behind the arc in those final couple minutes and just didn’t answer the call. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-7 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -7.
Dinwiddie -- -- A couple of negative plays in this one. He had a rare attack in the first half and threw it away. Late in the game, he attacked on a crossover and couldn’t finish in transition. The Nuggets got a big score the other way. We really have made our bench guards play scared. They are basically trying not to mess up. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 10 minutes. He was a -9.
Prince -- -- Our only bench scorer. He hit a wing three on a swing pass from Russell in the first half. He swished a big step-back three with the shotclock low a minute into the fourth. Defensively, one of the plays of the game for the Nuggets was a monster jam on Prince by KCP with 3 minutes left in the third. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-3 shooting from three to go with 3 boards and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +2.
Hayes -- -- Not a lot of action. He gave up a dunk getting fooled on a faked handoff. He got an offensive board on a Bron missed drive to give the Lakers a rare extra possession. Lakers lost the offensive board battle 9-4 in this one. The Stats: He had 1 board and 2 fouls in 6 minutes. He was a -1.
Vincent -- -- Some good moments defensively. He deflected a pass and went to the floor for a loose ball. He had a possession of Good D in the post on Murrary. He stripped Jokic from behind on help D. Offensively, he missed a couple corner threes. Good looks. He picked up his dribble and threw it away. Again, our bench guards not comfortable or confident. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 from three to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a -6.
Ham -- -- Key Moment: With 58 seconds left, Murray picked up a touch foul on a drive to get two FTs. Two fouls had been overturned on Nugget challenges to regain two possessions. This game came down to the wire and you didn’t try to use a challenge to regain a possession? It’s inexcusable to leave those challenges in your pockets. Killing me.
Key Substitution: When the Lakers sat AD in the third, they had to go small with Rui at the C. Rui battled, but the Lakers couldn’t get their offense on track. The bench guards are giving them nothing. A bucket or two makes a huge difference in this one.
Key Stats: Largest Laker lead in this game: 20 points. Largest Nugget lead: 3 points. And you get an L.
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 36090 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:02 pm Post subject:
I would say this game illustrates just how big the gap between Denver and the Lakers is. The games aren’t really all that close, despite the scores. When Denver wants to play seriously, they can overcome whatever lead the Lakers have. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8442 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:03 pm Post subject:
I posted this in the game thread:
The Lakers only have themselves to blame for this loss -- not the refs and not anything else.
They went away from the AD pick-and-roll that worked so well early. In the second half, they kept walking the ball upcourt and devolved into one-on-one basketball, which forced them to take difficult shots with the shot clock running down.
TBH, LeBron deserves some blame for taking that 3 with 15-16 seconds left. We didn't need a 3, and there was plenty of time left on the shot clock. He should've taken his time -- at least then Denver wouldn't have had much time to make a shot.
As our lead dwindled in the third and fourth quarters, I could feel it in my gut. Even when we still had a solid lead, I knew we were going to lose. It reminded me of the feeling I had two seasons ago when the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead in the NFL playoffs to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It also reminded me of February's Super Bowl when the 49ers blew their lead and lost the world championship.
This series is over. The Lakers don't have what it takes to even make things competitive. They may win one game if Denver gets overconfident, but even that doesn't seem likely right now. _________________ Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers
Last edited by slavavov on Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
The Lakers only have themselves to blame for this loss -- not the refs and not anything else.
They went away from the AD pick-and-roll that worked so well early. In the second half, they kept walking the ball upcourt and devolved into one-on-one basketball, which forced them to take difficult shots with the shot clock running down.
TBH, LeBron deserves some blame for taking that 3 with 15-16 seconds left. We didn't need a 3, and there was plenty of time left on the shot clock. He should've taken his time -- at least then Denver wouldn't have had much time to make a shot.
As our lead dwindled in the third and fourth quarters, I could feel it in my gut. Even when we still had a solid lead, I knew we were going to lose. It reminded me of the feeling I had two seasons ago when the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead in the NFL playoffs to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It also reminded me of February's Super Bowl when the 49ers blew their lead and lost the world championship.
This series is over. The Lakers don't have what it takes to even make things competitive. They may win one game if Denver gets overconfident, but even that doesn't seem likely right now.
Denver had a TO, they would have enough time to get off a shot regardless. Lebron had a wide open 3, he should take it
The writing was on the wall ALL SEASON.
This team has ZERO killer instinct and NO fight.
They play not to lose instead of attacking and putting teams away.
The bullshtt coach-speak from Ham must be resonating with his dumb "we gotta have a next play mentality".
No, dude.. the play is RIGHT NOW- there ain't no NEXT PLAY. Make it happen right now and stop bullshtting. No wonder these guys have no sense of urgency.
Max Christie had been grinding with the team and in the G League all last season and was coming along pretty nicely and developing chemistry with the guys THIS year. And what happened? He gets benched for a half-year rental that provides jack shtt, in Dinwiddie. Max would bring some much needed energy and I guarantee he scores a few hustle points over these past 2 games.
There is just so much wrong with this organization I dont even know where to start. But the lack of loyalty to guys like Max and previous dudes who are now putting in work on OTHER playoff teams (Josh Hart, LNJ, etc) is a huge concern and the team deserves to lose games like this for trying to bring in hired guns that end up shooting blanks for us, instead of riding with the guys that got you there. _________________ "Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8442 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:06 pm Post subject:
mad55557777 wrote:
slavavov wrote:
I posted this in the game thread:
The Lakers only have themselves to blame for this loss -- not the refs and not anything else.
They went away from the AD pick-and-roll that worked so well early. In the second half, they kept walking the ball upcourt and devolved into one-on-one basketball, which forced them to take difficult shots with the shot clock running down.
TBH, LeBron deserves some blame for taking that 3 with 15-16 seconds left. We didn't need a 3, and there was plenty of time left on the shot clock. He should've taken his time -- at least then Denver wouldn't have had much time to make a shot.
As our lead dwindled in the third and fourth quarters, I could feel it in my gut. Even when we still had a solid lead, I knew we were going to lose. It reminded me of the feeling I had two seasons ago when the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead in the NFL playoffs to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It also reminded me of February's Super Bowl when the 49ers blew their lead and lost the world championship.
This series is over. The Lakers don't have what it takes to even make things competitive. They may win one game if Denver gets overconfident, but even that doesn't seem likely right now.
Denver had a TO, they would have enough time to get off a shot regardless. Lebron had a wide open 3, he should take it
We didn't need a 3 in that situation. We should've taken our time and attacked the basket and at least gotten to the FT line. It didn't matter that Denver had a TO left. _________________ Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers
The Lakers only have themselves to blame for this loss -- not the refs and not anything else.
They went away from the AD pick-and-roll that worked so well early. In the second half, they kept walking the ball upcourt and devolved into one-on-one basketball, which forced them to take difficult shots with the shot clock running down.
TBH, LeBron deserves some blame for taking that 3 with 15-16 seconds left. We didn't need a 3, and there was plenty of time left on the shot clock. He should've taken his time -- at least then Denver wouldn't have had much time to make a shot.
As our lead dwindled in the third and fourth quarters, I could feel it in my gut. Even when we still had a solid lead, I knew we were going to lose. It reminded me of the feeling I had two seasons ago when the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead in the NFL playoffs to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It also reminded me of February's Super Bowl when the 49ers blew their lead and lost the world championship.
This series is over. The Lakers don't have what it takes to even make things competitive. They may win one game if Denver gets overconfident, but even that doesn't seem likely right now.
Denver had a TO, they would have enough time to get off a shot regardless. Lebron had a wide open 3, he should take it
We didn't need a 3 in that situation. We should've taken our time and attacked the basket and at least gotten to the FT line. It didn't matter that Denver had a TO left.
You say this because you knew the result of the shot. Gordon and Jokic were both in position to help on the drive and nobody was within 6 feet of lebron. What if he misses a layup? Or the refs didn’t call foul? Lebron made 2 3s 3 minutes ago, and you have an issue with him taking an open 3???
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8442 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:57 pm Post subject:
mad55557777 wrote:
slavavov wrote:
mad55557777 wrote:
slavavov wrote:
I posted this in the game thread:
The Lakers only have themselves to blame for this loss -- not the refs and not anything else.
They went away from the AD pick-and-roll that worked so well early. In the second half, they kept walking the ball upcourt and devolved into one-on-one basketball, which forced them to take difficult shots with the shot clock running down.
TBH, LeBron deserves some blame for taking that 3 with 15-16 seconds left. We didn't need a 3, and there was plenty of time left on the shot clock. He should've taken his time -- at least then Denver wouldn't have had much time to make a shot.
As our lead dwindled in the third and fourth quarters, I could feel it in my gut. Even when we still had a solid lead, I knew we were going to lose. It reminded me of the feeling I had two seasons ago when the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead in the NFL playoffs to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It also reminded me of February's Super Bowl when the 49ers blew their lead and lost the world championship.
This series is over. The Lakers don't have what it takes to even make things competitive. They may win one game if Denver gets overconfident, but even that doesn't seem likely right now.
Denver had a TO, they would have enough time to get off a shot regardless. Lebron had a wide open 3, he should take it
We didn't need a 3 in that situation. We should've taken our time and attacked the basket and at least gotten to the FT line. It didn't matter that Denver had a TO left.
You say this because you knew the result of the shot. Gordon and Jokic were both in position to help on the drive and nobody was within 6 feet of lebron. What if he misses a layup? Or the refs didn’t call foul? Lebron made 2 3s 3 minutes ago, and you have an issue with him taking an open 3???
Why not get a higher percentage shot and leave less time on the clock for Denver?
When the game is tied with 15-16 seconds left, you usually don't take a 3 unless it's a dead-eye 3-point shooter who is wide-open. _________________ Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers
Bron had a good look but just missed it. Murray hit one of those tough shots that killed us last year series. You can’t control those things really.
Ham in the other hand had his hands all over the first 2 losses so far. Just frustrating to watch him do nothing. He didn’t help this team at all get out of that quick sand tonight. I would say he’s the main reason we lost tonight.
Along with, First 2 games our role players been letting us down.
^ You'll rarely have all of your key players playing well every game. We were due for some regression to the mean from DLO from last year to this year, which we're seeing. But unfortunately we're seeing the flip side from Rui & Reaves.
Still, it's crazy how little the Lakers get out of their bench guards. Yeah, Vincent is playing good defense but their bench looks worse than the Nuggets' which is saying something.
Bron and AD are better than Murray and Jockitch and that's how i feel, sorry...
The rest of denvers starters are better than ours but I say its all the time and stand by it: The NBA is rigged like pro wrestling and IMO Tim Donaghey PROVES it.
Nuggets got more love from the refs and it may not show up with the FT numbers...I DVR'd the game and rewatched the WHOLE DAMN GAME...Refs CLEARLY called it in favor of the nuggets and I have no idea why, or what the agenda is but i know what I saw.
I welcome you all to rewatch the game. this crap is rigged. _________________ Creatures crawl in search of blood, To terrorize y'alls neighborhood.
^ You'll rarely have all of your key players playing well every game. We were due for some regression to the mean from DLO from last year to this year, which we're seeing. But unfortunately we're seeing the flip side from Rui & Reaves.
Still, it's crazy how little the Lakers get out of their bench guards. Yeah, Vincent is playing good defense but their bench looks worse than the Nuggets' which is saying something.
Thats true, but we are getting severely outplayed in that department this series so far. Our bench has been in a big whole both games and it’s not even close also.
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 2:39 am Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 4-22-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
DancingBarry wrote:
Ham -- -- Key Moment: With 58 seconds left, Murray picked up a touch foul on a drive to get two FTs. Two fouls had been overturned on Nugget challenges to regain two possessions. This game came down to the wire and you didn’t try to use a challenge to regain a possession? It’s inexcusable to leave those challenges in your pockets. Killing me.
Coach Pockets strikes again. I'll give him credit for at least using his timeouts this time. But, you don't challenge ANY tight 50/50 plays at crucial moments in the clutch? Really? Also, as the game wore on, Reaves and DLo got less and less touches, while the offense was centered only around Bron/AD. When AD got into foul trouble, and went cold from the floor...and Bron got tired...that was when you saw the Nuggets slowly climb back into the game. Just picking us apart.
Ham CANNOT be the coach going into next season. He doesn't have it in him to head coach, yet. _________________ ZOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last edited by sonic the laker on Tue Apr 23, 2024 8:04 am; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 2:50 am Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 4-22-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
sonic the laker wrote:
DancingBarry wrote:
Ham -- -- Key Moment: With 58 seconds left, Murray picked up a touch foul on a drive to get two FTs. Two fouls had been overturned on Nugget challenges to regain two possessions. This game came down to the wire and you didn’t try to use a challenge to regain a possession? It’s inexcusable to leave those challenges in your pockets. Killing me.
Coach Pockets strikes again. I'll give him credit for at least using his timeouts this time. But, you don't challenge ANY tight 50/5 plays at crucial moments in the clutch? Really? Also, as the game wore on, Reaves and DLo got less and less touches, while the offense was centered only around Bron/AD. When AD got into foul trouble, and went cold from the floor...and Bron got tired...that was when you saw the Nuggets slowly climb back into the game. Just picking us apart.
Ham CANNOT be the coach going into next season. He doesn't have it in him to head coach, yet.
Ham finished that game with 1 challenge and 2 timeouts left in his pocket… That’s a coach with no clue and it’s crazy that were still seeing it in the playoffs.
LeBron shot the three well all season and has continued that in this series. That was a good look that went in and out. Where he deserves blame is going 4/11 in the restricted area. So many missed layups during that 3Q collapse.
This was one of the most painful sports losses I’ve ever watched. Overall I don’t know how you expect LeBron/AD/Dlo to play that well again and Murray to play as poorly as he did through 3Q. They have our number
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-- They started picking on Jokic on the two-man game to start the second half. Bron with the ball in his hands setting the table. That worked well to start as Bron got the ball to AD for some And-1s and hit Reaves for a big three. We then switched to Rui as the roll man with the Nuggets moved Jokic to Rui. He got Rui a couple buckets with that, but our offensive mix became very predictable. In the fourth, Bron came up with several scores. He hit two big threes to push the lead to 8 with 5:38 left. There was a big turnover in the post where KCP stripped him. He hit another leaner And-1 in the post against KCP with 4 minutes left to go up 6, but he missed the FT (got to hit those). Huge play by Bron with 1:30, stealing the ball from Murray and taking it the distance for a huge dunk. (Too bad we can’t celebrate that play.) He’d get another layup on a drive. With 14 seconds left, he was wide open at the three line, game tied and missed it. He had some huge clutch scores, but that one hurt. It seemed like he missed several easy ones at the rim throughout the game, as well. Late in the game, he was on Murray for a couple possessions. The Nuggets got a huge touch foul on one of those with under a minute left. As mentioned above, a couple huge defensive plays by Bron to start this game. He also kept those turnovers in check. You knew he wasn’t going to be as sloppy as that first game. 
-- He couldn’t get some big stops down the stretch. Jokic got some easy ones in the post and then Murray hit that jumper over him at the buzzer. There was a stretch early in the game, where AD was crushing it offensively. We fed him again and again for post scores. In the second half, we ran a lot of two-man action to target Jokic on the screen-roll. AD got some early scores off that. The Nuggets switched to put Gordon on AD. I think we went to the post against that match up maybe twice. It wasn’t a lot. But down the stretch in this game. The Nuggets went to Jokic for those scores and we couldn’t work an advantage for AD. I think he had one shot in the fourth quarter. When he’s not getting the ball a lot, he’s usually trying to get something done on the offensive glass. He couldn’t impose himself there and it’s possible he was gassed with the altitude. Got to get it done on the home court. “We have stretches where we don’t know what we are doing on both ends of the court,” AD said. Sure seems like it. 
-- He had 9 of the Lakers first 11 points with three threes. As the half went along, he’d drill more beyond the arc, finishing with six threes in the half. Some sloppy passing in this game, a cross-court feed to Bron that was risky. An awful lob pass to AD with a couple men on him and Rui open in the corner. It looked like he earned FTs on a possession against Porter where he was hit in the head on the drive. The Nuggets challenged and it was overturned (he was hit on the head, but they said it didn’t deserve FTs). One possession game, that’s huge. “I don’t understand what is going on in the replay center to be honest,” Bron said. Late in the game, we put the ball back in Russell’s hand on a play and he got a huge layup to go up 2 with a minute left. Not enough variety in the offense in the fourth quarter. The Lakers had flow early in this game involving their backcourt. They went away from that and scored 40 points in the second half. “I like our fight,” Russell said heading to L.A. 
-- Not sure how he didn’t get to that bad pass by Jokic late in the game. That led to a huge three. Nothing he did wrong really in transition. Looked like he was right there, just didn’t come up with it. Murray was 2-10 for 4 points in the first half, he was 3-16 after three quarters for 6 points. He’d score big with 14 points on 6-8 shooting in the fourth. The big one was over AD and we had Bron on him for a couple possessions, as well down the stretch. Couldn’t get the stops. Offensively, he was very aggressive to start the game. I think the Laker guards wanted to make the Nugget guards work. Reaves was able to get into the paint and the midrange. We went away from that after the first quarter. In the second half, Reaves drained a three off the Bron/AD two-man sequence we were running. We made Murray the help man during that stretch. Reaves didn’t touch the ball for quite a while after that. He bailed out the offense on an iso baseline pull-up with 3 minutes left. He’d miss a big three off another busted play with 1:40 left. 
-- A lot of responsibility for him on the defensive end against Jokic. He battled, and helped hold the line when AD got into that foul trouble. We need a bigger game from him offensively. Can’t have him missing the wide open ones he did. We get Russell back in this game and Rui disappears completely. As the Nuggets put Jokic on him to switch how they defended the Bron/AD two-man game. We got Rui a layup and some FTs (got to make both of those FTs). He missed a huge wide open three with 2 minutes left. The Lakers had some great looks behind the arc in those final couple minutes and just didn’t answer the call. 
-- A couple of negative plays in this one. He had a rare attack in the first half and threw it away. Late in the game, he attacked on a crossover and couldn’t finish in transition. The Nuggets got a big score the other way. We really have made our bench guards play scared. They are basically trying not to mess up. 
-- Our only bench scorer. He hit a wing three on a swing pass from Russell in the first half. He swished a big step-back three with the shotclock low a minute into the fourth. Defensively, one of the plays of the game for the Nuggets was a monster jam on Prince by KCP with 3 minutes left in the third. 
-- Not a lot of action. He gave up a dunk getting fooled on a faked handoff. He got an offensive board on a Bron missed drive to give the Lakers a rare extra possession. Lakers lost the offensive board battle 9-4 in this one. 
-- Some good moments defensively. He deflected a pass and went to the floor for a loose ball. He had a possession of Good D in the post on Murrary. He stripped Jokic from behind on help D. Offensively, he missed a couple corner threes. Good looks. He picked up his dribble and threw it away. Again, our bench guards not comfortable or confident. 
-- Key Moment: With 58 seconds left, Murray picked up a touch foul on a drive to get two FTs. Two fouls had been overturned on Nugget challenges to regain two possessions. This game came down to the wire and you didn’t try to use a challenge to regain a possession? It’s inexcusable to leave those challenges in your pockets. Killing me.
