Nuggets Take Game 1 in a Deja-vu Performance from L.A.

The Lakers began their mission to take down the reigning NBA champions in what had to be a must-win game one. 

Unfortunately, for the purple and gold, their time to beat the Denver Nuggets will have to wait.

The Lakers lost game one of their opening round 114-103. It seems to be the same old story for a franchise that has seen so much success against this Denver franchise in years past. But in their recent memory, the Denver Nuggets are a Kryptonite for this Lakers team.

LeBron James gave the Lakers much needed momentum early, knocking down three’s and getting the ball out in transition. LeBron even had a 28-foot buzzer beater that gave the Lakers the lead headed into half time.

It was down the stretch, once again, that the Lake show just couldn’t weather the storm that are this clutch Denver Nuggets team.

In the third quarter, the Nuggets’ size seemed to be the deciding factor when the Lakers needed to get buckets. 

With three minutes left in the third quarter, Micheal Porter Jr. blocked Taurean Prince which led to a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope three. That triple seemed to stab the Lakers in the heart, and the game was out of their reach ever since.

The KCP three gave the nuggets a nine point lead, and to the Nuggets, a nine point lead against the Lakers feels like double that.

To make the scenario even more grim, Caldwell-Pope hit another three on their next position, bumping their lead up to 12. This Third quarter barrage where the Nuggets outscored the Lakers by 14, would be the end of the their aspirations to steal game one. 

The Lakers were however, were able to cut the lead to six with under six minutes remaining behind spectacular play from Anthony Davis, but the Nuggets made timely shots, and went on to win the game gaining control of the series.

It appears to be the fundamentals why the Lakers can’t beat this Denver team, particularly getting offensive rebounds and limiting turnovers

Head coach Darvin Ham dove into why the Lakers couldn’t pull out a victory Saturday night. “It’s just the offensive rebounding, us being a better defensive rebounding team, and then we have some possessions that got away from us in terms of turnovers… Just those small things against a team like this, they kill you.”

On top of those “small things” that Ham eluded to, the Laker role players have yet to prove that they can play a pivotal role in winning a NBA championship. The Lakers starting lineup, aside from their superstar duo, had a combined 33 points.

That will never get the job done when trying to win a playoff series, especially against Denver.

If the Lakers can’t figure out a way to fix their mistakes and play flawless basketball, this series won’t last long.

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