NUGGETS -at- LAKERS - 4-27-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Got One... In the second halves of games, the Lakers offense has ground to a halt at times. They’ve often gotten stuck in a myopic, plodding approach, usually with the ball in LeBron’s hands. This isn’t how they’ve played this season.

They’ve played well enough defensively in this series. The 119 points they scored tonight would have won any other game this series. It’s taken multiple playoff games and regular season losses before they’ve finally won against Denver. They got one tonight.

It started off with a well-rounded first quarter, everyone was touching the ball, and they pulled out to a 21-14 lead.

There were key stretches in this game where LeBron sat and the Laker guards met the challenge. In the second half, Reaves had one stretch where he attacked and found Rui on the drive dish. He then hit a three on iso, nailed another pull-up bank next time down, and then drew FTs in transition. That pushed the lead to double digits.

The Lakers took a 61-48 halftime lead. Familiar position as they’ve led at the half in every game. Could they maintain flow for once in the second half?

No 20-point quarters in this one for the Lakers. In the third, they edged the lead up a little further. But the game bogged down a bit with Denver getting to the line a number of times. They chipped the lead down to 7. The Lakers didn’t break this time.

Multiple possessions in this game, they went to the two-man game with AD in the middle of the floor and with Bron off the ball in the corner. They would force help on the short-roll sequences, and LeBron finished at the rim consistently.

Russell, who wasn’t settling for threes had the biggest assist off that action. He no-looked to Bron on the lob for the slam late in the game. After another three by Russell, the Lakers were up 19 midway through the fourth.

Denver trimmed that lead down to 7 points with just over a minute left. Reaves was able to create for himself and sink a big midrange jumper that kept anything crazy from happening this time.

Denver has had games with multiple players contributing. Today, the Lakers finally had one with 4 starters with 20+ points. The Lakers won 119-108.

“We’ve just never quite put together a complete game,” Ham said of the previous three losses. They go back to Denver and try to get win number two.



LeBron -- -- Very animated and angry with the officials and even the coaching staff in this one. He had 6 turnovers and multiple disagreements with some of the calls or no calls on quite a few of those. He looked like he lost his cool completely with the coaching staff for not challenging a play where the refs called it out on him and he never touched the ball. The coaches have been awful with their challenges in this series and no doubt that was part of that outburst. Offensively, he worked the post quite a bit against smalls. Later in the game, we ran him in the corner in that Rui spot while our guards had the ball. He’d cut and AD or the guards would find him off the short-roll actions. A couple big plays late in the game, blindsiding Jokic on a handoff to take it for a dunk. He then scored another layup on the AD two-man game with 1:31 left to go up 10. “We have to sustain our effort. We have to sustain our energy,” LeBron said. He mentioned the work on the glass and in transition D. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 14-23 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 6 turnovers and no fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -3.

Davis -- -- First off, as Bron mentioned, the Nuggets had only 5 second-chance points in this one. AD had a lot of energy on the glass on his way to the 20+ rebound outing. Offensively, he picked his spots on iso, sometimes attacking Jokic early. The two-man action in this game was on-point. Guys found him multiple times for scores. When the Lakers worked the attack in the middle of the floor, he hit cutters on the short-roll for scores. Late in the first half, he landed on his right hand and was holding that for a bit. He’s had a wrist injury, but bounced back without issue from that fall. He and AR led the team in assists in this game, showing the change in variety in the attack. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 11-17 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 23 boards (3 offensive), 6 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +11.

Russell -- -- “I told him to go crazy. Be confident. You’ve been doing this your life,” Ham said prior to this game. Those calling for Ham to sit Russell, what are you going to replace it with? None of the others can replace him. So you ride or die with him. Just try to get him involved like you usually did in the regular season. First play of the game, they set up for him. He missed, but it was a floater going toward the hoop. He would attack Porter’s pressure for a layup, miss another midrnage, then take and hit a three. He didn’t settle after that, he snaked past a defender for a reverse layup. So, a much more varied attack in the first half. Second half, he said they didn’t want to be on their heels like they had been. He swished a wing three on a pass out from Rui. He’d kick to Gabe for a three. We’d put the ball in his hands more. He hit some key shots late in the third while Bron was resting. He’d hit a corner three on a Prince kickout. He iso’d on Porter, losing him on a charge of directions behind his back and hit the pull-up from midrange. Those were big makes. More ball in his hands in the fourth, as he’d get men on his hip and score. He said he felt like his mind was made up in the last game to take threes. Instead, tonight, he attacked more. It makes a world of difference when our guards get more north and south. He needs another one like this. Can’t go back to that last game. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-15 shooting (4-8 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +11.

Reaves -- -- As mentioned above, we put the ball in his hands more when Bron was resting. He was aggressive and hit multiple shots or found teammates for scores after getting paint touches. The three shooting was a little off, but a couple of his three attempts were chucks at the end of quarters. So more like a 1-4 from three shooting type of game. His one make from three was an iso pull-up. Good passing game from Reaves, finding Rui cutting for al ayup. He hit AD for a couple of scores, including a couple of lob dunks. He had a couple hockey assists, getting penetration and finding Bron who quickly hit AD. He also hit AD on the two-man who then got it to Bron for a dunk. Big late-game pull-up in the lane after the Nuggets cut it to 7. Reaves on playing aggressively alongside the two stars. “They relieve so much pressure because coaches and teams are so worried about them, we could really be ourselves,” Reaves said. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-15 shooting (1-5 from three, 6-6 from the line) to go with 1 board, 6 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +1.

Hachimura -- -- The fewest minutes of the starters and interestingly the team-leading +13. He swished a corner three in transition. He cut from the corner on an AR drive for a layup. He attacked from the corner for another layup. He had a rare post-up and hit a turnaround over KCP. Our Bron/Rui postgame switch off has not been in play. Often the team has to stick a smaller defender on one of them and we haven’t been consistent with how we attack that like we did during the regular season. Defensively, some issues. He and AD had some confusion in transition to give up an And-1 to Jokic. That stuff is frustrating. He also fouled Porter on a three. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +13.

Dinwiddie -- -- He had a quiet night. A little foul trouble in the first half with three of them. He’d get a point at the line off a hesi attacking Jackson. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-1 shooting three (1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards and 3 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +4.

Prince -- -- Some more minutes tonight, taking some from Rui. His aggressiveness is needed on the floor. He scored a layup on iso. He drained a wing three on an AD offensive board and kickout. He attacked from the corner for a layup and he drew some FTs off the dribble. He also got middle and found Russell for a three. There was an odd possession late in the game where three different Lakers passed on taking a three, Prince was one of them and turned the ball over. But it might have hinted on the team trying not to settle for threes. Malone mentioned how relentless the Lakers were attacking the paint. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-7 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +0.

Hayes -- -- We went back to more of our regular rotation. He started the second quarter with Bron and Prince in the front court. In the fourth, we got AD his rest and ran Hayes more. Not especially effective minutes tonight, but he got boards and we were a +0 when AD was off the floor. Ideally, we are in the positive when Jokic is sitting. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He was a +0.

Vincent -- -- He sank a corner three on a kickout from Russell late in the third for his only points. I’d love for him to have a big game because we miss Dennis’s impact off the bench. But he’s just trying not to take everyone else out from what they are doing. What you get is a stronger defender that can’t be posted up easily by a guy like Murray for layups or open looks for others. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a +6.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: Denver was a +31 in the third quarter in this series. The Lakers only lost that quarter by 2 tonight. That was big. But let’s go to the close in this one. The Lakers choked a big fourth quarter lead previously by giving up 7 straight buckets to the Nuggets and not answering the charge with their own offense. This game felt like we were resting LeBron a little more and playing him off the ball more, so that we had more in the tank from him late in the game. He had four buckets in the final three minutes (10 points in the final 6 minutes). Reaves had a big jumper with over a minute left. Russell had a three and some FTs prior to all that. For his part, Ham actually used and won a challenge late on some defensive pressure by Russell. The series should be 2-2, but it is what it is.

Key Substitution: LeBron sat for 10 minutes in this game. The Lakers were a +14 when he sat. Good job by the guards keeping the Laker offense flowing, and really, earning more trust down the stretch it seemed.

Key Stats: There was a stat they posted in the fourth quarter. The Lakers led 136 minutes in the series, Denver led 42 minutes, and they were tied for 14. The Lakers won two quarters tonight, lost one by 2 points and were tied in the other quarter.

[slavavov]

Thanks DB.

While we haven't really proven anything, we do have a proof of concept that we can beat the Nuggets when we get a lead against them.

We have been holding down Murray in this series. He has been the one who has killed us more than anyone else, and containing him was job one for us. Other than the fourth quarter of Game 2, we have done that.

We won't win Game 5, but if we do, I think the conversation around this series will change a bit. People will wonder if Denver is bored, complacent or overconfident. It seemed they were like that a couple of times early in last year's playoffs.
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[A Mad Chinaman]

Pride!!

Players that maintaining being aggressive had the most PT

Hopefully the careless TOs (LBJ, DLo and Prince) will again be far and few in Game 5

Rui still trying to see where he can make an impact on the game, probably on offense. When Prince is makin more of an impact than yourself, Rui has to look at himself in the mirror and "Man Up!"

With Rui only getting 4 boards on "Not on a String" on defense, he needs to upped his game

DLo - Congrats. Getting Zero Points in one Game, then 21 Points on the next game - seems like AD last season with alternating good and bad games

LBJ is LBJ / AD was Da Man

[bryants2hot2handle]

Let's go! Hopefully this is enough to keep Ham on longer, and draft Bronny.

[mad55557777]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[eddiejonze]

Bron didn't lose his cool with he coaching staff for not challenging...it was a physical manifestation of how fans who think this league is rigged feel, when the obvious is glanced over, as if some how we didn't see it.
This league is rigged, and WACK.
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[mad55557777]

One thing to be concerned about in light of this win, the nuggets got favorable whistles on our home court,

[1995Lakers]

[Dominic1981]

Difference in this game vs the first 3 was rebounding and turnovers. The hustle points.

Also Aaron Gordon.

Game 3: 29-15
Game 4: 7-3

[Moses]

Nice to get a win, but also infuriating that we aren’t at least tied in this series. Honestly at this point, LeBron’s reaction to Ham seems similar to most fans, we just want rid of him.
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Lakers, Chargers, Dodgers, Arsenal FC.

Mamba Forever
The Marathon Continues
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[CandyCanes]

[danzag]

Call an ambulance... but not for me!!!!!

Thanks, DB!

[forzaCOREA]

I know social media is clowning on LBJ for acting a fool over the referees missed call but more importantly his frustration at Darvin Ham.

Every 3rd quarter lakers getting smashed.

It's 3-0 hole you guys are in.

IF your GOAT player says challenge the call, you challenge the effing call and live with it.

Ham walking around all slow with no urgency with your hands in the pocket while LBJ is telling you to challenge. Fool reminds me of Bowser from supermario, all hunched over walking slow af.

Every game he saves his challenges, save them for what?

On the other side, when Jokic or Murray says to challenge the coach listens.
They trust in one another.

Every game we have been up double digits. If we had a competent coach who makes adjustments we could even be up this series.

[ribeye]

In looking at 2024 playoff PER:

1. Nokic 35.42 (3rd highest ever)
2. Davis 29.54
3. James 25.98
4. Porter 20.57 (just to demonstrate the distance from 3rd)

The Laks stars have definitely come to play. Unfortunately, so has Jokic
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"A metronome keeps time by using a Ringo"

[PenG_]

[pio2u]

THX DB!
Another masterful write-up. Thanks for all you do to give insight into the games. Kudos!

[A Mad Chinaman]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Excellent write-up as always.

Great to see the Lakers pull a win out instead of giving up. I think it's significant that when LBJ keeps the guards involved in the game rather than resorting to ISO ball, the better the Lakers results on the floor. Solid games by both DLO and AR because of this, and guess what, we won.

[Nobody]

The first game I could not watch and just checked the score - and they finally win. Call me superstitious, but I'll do the same for Game 5. You never know.

Thanks for the write-up, DB.

[Valdarno]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[DancingBarry]

Just FYI, looks like I had a schedule conflict for tomorrow’s game I forgot about, so it might be a DYI night.

[Rek]