If the Nuggets really want the title of “Lakers’ Daddy,” they’ll have the chance to earn it with an earlier-than-expected rematch.
Less than a year after their Western Conference Finals sweep, the Nuggets will face the Lakers in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, tipping off Saturday at Ball Arena with Game 1. Denver (57-25) enters the series having won eight consecutive head-to-head matchups against Los Angeles.
The Lakers (47-35) finished the regular season in eighth place and defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 in the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday to earn the matchup. Pelicans star Zion Williamson scored 40 points but mysteriously disappeared to the locker room with an apparent injury after scoring a game-tying floater with 3:19 remaining.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 23 points on 6-of-20 shooting. Anthony Davis added 20 points and 15 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell, who shot a career-high 41.5% from 3-point range this season, scored 21, including a critical corner three that gave Los Angeles a four-point lead with a minute to go.
In the 2023-24 regular season, presumptive MVP Nikola Jokic averaged 29.3 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in three games against the Lakers. Jamal Murray averaged 24.7 points, five rebounds and 9.3 assists in the matchup. The Nuggets point guard seems more likely to thrive in this matchup than he might have against New Orleans’ scrappy wing defenders; he was a 32.5 point-per-game scorer in the four-game series last spring, while Jokic averaged a triple-double against Anthony Davis.
All three regular-season clashes involved a ceremony, by sheer scheduling serendipity. In the NBA season opener, the Nuggets won after receiving their 2023 championship rings and raising the title banner. The two games in Los Angeles coincided with the unveiling of a Kobe Bryant statue and the celebration of James’ 40,000th career point, which he scored by driving past Michael Porter Jr.
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Bennett Durando
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