When the Nuggets were down 3-1 to Utah in the first round of the postseason, the idea that they’d eventually appear in the Western Conference Finals seemed like a pipe dream. The same was true when they fell behind the Clippers 3-1 in the second round.
Having improbably survived both of those series, the Nuggets will once again take on an underdog role as they prepare for the next round of the playoffs, but they’ve come to embrace that role.
Among the four teams still active in the postseason, Jamal Murray is the second-leading playoff scorer, with 27.1 PPG on a red-hot .502/.491/.913 shooting line. Nikola Jokic has arguably been even better, complementing his 25.4 PPG (.515/.440/.830 shooting) with 10.8 RPG and 6.0 APG.
While no Nugget besides Murray or Jokic is averaging more than 11.1 PPG in the postseason, the club’s supporting cast has stepped up when needed. Michael Porter Jr. and Gary Harris have been reliable from beyond the arc and have the team’s best playoff net ratings among rotation players, while Jerami Grant and Paul Millsap have also provided Denver with good minutes.
Still, the Nuggets have a challenging task ahead of them as they look to upset the top-seeded Lakers. They’ll enter the series as +420 underdogs, per BetOnline.ag, which means you could win $420 if you risk $100 on Denver to advance to the NBA Finals. It’s hard to find any experts willing to pick the Nuggets in the Western Finals, and that extends to rival team employees too. Josh Robbins of The Athletic spoke to a coach, executive, and scout about the series, and all three picked the Lakers to win in either five or six games.
Like Denver, Los Angeles has leaned heavily on its two stars in the postseason, with Anthony Davis and LeBron James combining for 54.2 PPG, 21.2 RPG, and 12.9 APG through the first two rounds. Jokic, Millsap, and Grant will do their best to slow down that frontcourt duo, but they’ll only be able to do so much.
As is the case for the Nuggets, no third Lakers player has stepped up as a major scoring threat, but Rajon Rondo had a very effective series vs. Houston, with 10.6 PPG, 7.0 APG, 4.6 RPG, and 2.0 SPG. Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are chipping in with secondary scoring, and Markieff Morris and Danny Green had the club’s best on/off-court splits during the second round.
What do you think? Do the Nuggets have a chance at upsetting another L.A. team or will the Lakers do what the Clippers couldn’t and end Denver’s run here? How many games do you expect this series to last? And do you expect the winner of the Western Finals to ultimately claim this year’s NBA championship?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Lakers look good because they beat the bad playoffs teams Blazers and Rockets
I pick Nuggets with condition
If no starter has early foul trouble
Trail Blazers were a bad playoff team? They were healthy in bubble until last couple games and beat several teams 6-2 to get 8 seed.. rockets were a 4 seed and were considered a threat to lakers.. nuggets beat a jazz team that lakers owned and clippers team that quit.. not to mention, lakers beat nuggets in bubble and have the size that no other team has to match up with Jokic.. Jokic won’t have same ease scoring on ad that he did off clippers.. if you think nuggets beat lakers, you haven’t been watching basketball
This guys a joke best to just ignore him. All his posts are horrendous and make no sense
A good lesson to Nuggets
Klay Thompson played less than 2 minutes in first quarter
2018 game 7 Warriors vs Rockets
First two minutes Klay Thompson has foul trouble in the 2nd minutes
Quinn to replace Klay
Livingston replace Iguodala
Iguodala injured
A good lesson to Nuggets
Klay Thompson played less than 2 minutes in first quarter
2018 game 7 Warriors vs Rockets
First two minutes Klay Thompson has foul trouble in the 2nd minutes
Quinn to replace Klay
Livingston replace Iguodala
All but lakers fans probably want Nuggets, but it would be a big fail if the Lakers didn’t
nuggets match up well against the Lakers. Nuggets can go size with the Lakers. If one of the other Nuggets have a great series the Lakers lose. They will double team Muarry all game long so Harris and another player needs to come up big.
If you say Nuggets its beyond wishful thinking. LeBron and AD are not chokers like Paul George and Gobert. Lakers had no problem with the Nuggets in the regular season with both stars playing. I love how all of a sudden the Rockets and Blazers are both “bad playoff teams”. Both of them are better than the Jazz…
LBJ isn’t a choker??
3-6 ring a bell ?
LeBron was favored to win 1 of his 6 finals losses LOL. How many 3-1 leads has he blown?
Jerry west, eligin Baylor and wilt have a combined 19 finals losses..jerry west the logo has 8 finals losses..I guess based on your thinking, her was the ultimate choker that became the logo. lebron took alot of bad teams to the finals.. his ultimate though is coming back from 3-1 against that historical warriors team..
I’m not a big Lebron fan but trying to discredit the guy for having made nine Finals appearances with three chips is ludicrous.
If you lose in the finals no matter what sport means nothing except failure
True but that doesn’t make him a choker. The only Finald you can say Lebron choked in was 2011 but he avenged it by winning the next two Finals.
Tell that to the Buffalo Bills.
Nuggets are a good young team.. lakers have lebron.. I’ll take lebron all day.. lakers play defense.. Ad will be on Jokic.. clippers didn’t have the defenders to match up with Jokic.. lakers do.. lakers in reality are in nuggets heads.. unlike pandemic Paul and kawhi, lebron and AD won’t disappear when the team needs them the most.. lakers in 5
Hard to say! I really can’t pick one over the other… I think if Jokic can play at his usual greatness despite AD then DEN will win… If AD manages to stop Jokic then is the LAL… Real tough one!
I wish this could be the Finals as any of this teams will have an easy ride against MIA or BOS!
Who is better？
Jokic or Davis?
Porter or Kuzma？
Harris or Green？
I hear you with those matchups but it’s more than that. The Nuggets aren’t ready yet. Jamal Murray is coming along nicely and so is jokic. Their pieces are pretty good too. But the Lakers have veterans that have been there before. The Lakers won’t let the nuggets come back from 3-1 like the other teams did.
Davis over Jokic all day.. not only is AD all nba first team but also all nba all defensive
I’d take green over over Harris just because championship experience and he’s really paid to play defense and make his spot up 3’s
Porter is more talented than kuzma but always hurt ..
End of the day, lebron is playing out of his mind
It’s laughable that the poll isn’t 85-15 Lakers to Nuggets. Series is over already, everyone knows it. Even Denver.
Talking about me: Predicted Denver as champs way back a year ago, then I said I was rooting for the Lakers because of the ex- Cavs, so I’m happy now. Said Houston looked the most sophisticated but it would be close with OKC, and with WC firstrounders overall, while EC series would be blowouts… result 4 losing WC teams won 9 games, including OKC 3, while 4 losing EC teams won 1.
I also said IND would beat MIA as the only upset series in round one, however, IND was actually the higher seed, so in a reverse way I was right, since Miami won, the only lowest seed to win round 1.
(Turns out, Pacer plyrs were pretty much giving up on their coach at that point, Olidipo may never come back, Myles Turner wore out with no help, & PJ Warren probably is not big-game.)
But I did take the Heat in the next two series and its been 4-1 & 2-0 so far. That’s all I recall.
So my take on LAL-DEN? Heck if I know. Given the wide odds Denver is a good risk for wagering. But they need Barton. Who will cover LJ?
Ouch, all true too
I was looking forward to your prediction. You’ve been spot-on. I’m saying whoever takes the East takes it all. Coaching is so huge and Eric’s Spoelstra is proving his worth.
The Lakers at least, should be smart enough to slow it down and make it about possessions. And hopefully wear purple not black.
Watch the Lakers go up 3-1 against Denver just like the Jazz and Clippers did then lose in 7.
Lakers aren’t the jazz or clippers.. they are the #1 team in the wc.. they own the nuggets.. they out small balled your rockets so bad that your coach quit and your player got himself kicked out of the bubble for being a moron..nuggets have Murray and Jokic but as you saw, nobody can touch AD and Lebron.. nuggets are up and coming.. lakers are already here
So bad your coach quit, hahahaha!
If the lakers lose from here, they’ll be the laughing stock of all time
What are you talking about?
Lakers in 7