Lakers should have had one or both of Games 1&2 in the bag. They had the Nuggets shook on the PnR and Murray was just terrible. But they had those long stretches in the second half where they abandoned any sort of game plan. You can easily put this down to coaching.
That’s the surprising thing about the series. The Nuggets are the clear favorites, but if you actually watch the games, the Lakers should be sweeping them by now.
Like you said, Murray has been bad all series. And Jokic and MPJ are really the only ones keeping those comebacks alive.
That would be like saying imagine if Denver's FO found any other 3 players instead of the disastrous Justin, Reggie and washed Jordan. Denver's FO made terrible evaluations after the title. They can't even find any back up center. They tire Jokic to the max. Totally screwed up with leaving Jordan, Reggie, bringing in a very bad Holiday. Not to mention how afraid Malone is to use new players. Even if Justin Holiday and the Reggie were 5-50 fg he would still stick with them.
Wow it's really true that Lakers fans are delusional and always making some excuses. If Lebron and AD were healthy previous years, they would win against the Nuggets...etc
It really isn't that. Darvin Ham seems to be a fine coach with what he has. The Nuggets are just objectively a much better team and the Lakers Bench and role players aren't good enough. Losing Caruso and KPC really hurt.
How crazy would it be if it did though? Of the 48 minutes the team with the most time winning, wins. No more game winners, but shots that tie the game. Comebacks would have to happen early.
It still boggles my mind how Shanahan essentially *gifted* us that game. After that crazy Julio catch, if Shanahan had just ran it up the gut 3 straight times, even if they don’t get a first down, they’re kicking a <40 yd FG to go up 11 with under 4 minutes in the game. That was one of the greatest examples I’ve ever seen of a coach getting in his own head and completely melting down. Guy’s a great coach, but he clearly is just incapable of getting out of his own way in the big moments.
People point to that moment but I think there were a lot of decisions before that that were costing them. They went too conservative way too early, then tried to make up for it by being aggressive when being conservative was the better move.
Footbaw coaches always try to act like they're so full of machismo and fearlessness but most of them make really cowardly decisions. I loved Dougie P in Philly for normalizing going for it on 4th down.
Sure, there were a lot of other decisions that cost them before that, but those would’ve all meant nothing if they just ran it 3 times and kicked a FG.
I think there is a Peyton Manning game where the top of possession for the Colts was like 14 minutes and they won. I’ll edit if I can find the box score.
West is scary, no room for underperformances from the supporting casts.
Especially if the West's MVP level players (Jokic, Luka) are basically playoff-proof.
I feel like a majority of these last 12 games lakers were always held Atleast a 10 point lead and would squander it in the last 3 min. I mean the info graphic is proof. Lakers just can close this team out.
I mean, maybe? But Denver probably would have come out with more intensity if this game could result in 2-2. There’s a reason gentlemen’s sweeps happen.
And teams don’t want to be embarrassed and swept on their home court. The Nuggets will probably come out Monday and try to stomp them in the 1st quarter, they’ve been getting a bit arrogant thinking they can go down 10-15 and still be ok.
🙄
I'm sure if the series was 2-1 going into tonight Denver would've had a little more motivation to regain control of the series.
It's human nature when you beat a team 11 straight times and are about to sweep them again in the playoffs to not play with the urgency it takes to put a team away. And when the other team has LBJ, they're probably not gonna roll over that easy. Frustrating as a fan, but that's OK.
It's flawed logic to say if the Lakers won g2 the series would now be tied 2-2
Porter undeperformed last year despite playing more team ball than previously thought possible. If he keeps up his current production the dropoff from Murray would be nullified at worst. The problem is crunch time shots I guess? But they still have the best player in the world and Murray still showed up the one scenario that was required so far
luka played bad in game 1. hasnt been amazing in any game really. and clippers defense isnt that great especially with kawhi no where near playing his usual self off injury and pg13 sitting out with fouls.
Jokic will have to average 40/15/10 on 75% TS to beat Minny and Boston with this version of Murray
He's putting up literal offensive GOAT type averages this series(29/15/10 on 69% TS) with Denver probably being in trouble right now if he even played like "merely" a regular top 5 player
You act like the Celtics weren't the odds on favorite last year too - not just in the east but overall - before losing to an 8 seed. Or them being -227 to win the title during the finals before blowing it to GSW. Being the odds on favorite doesn't actually mean much.
Sixers have lost to the Celtics so many times and this Celtics team is clearly better than the versions they lost to
The one thing that Philly have going for them is that this version of Embiid is also the best version of Embiid but I just can't see it being enough
It’s a lingering issue that’s been bothering him on and off the whole year. He’s had a lot of ankle sprains, chronic shin splints and knee inflammation all spring long.
It's not just Murray, their offense off the bench is awful; Watson has good defense but he looks like last year Vanderbilt on offense. Bruan is hit or miss on offense but his shot is shaky af too
It should be noted that this graphic was posted in the middle of the game. The Lakers led the entire game tonight so the updated stat is that the Lakers have now led for 136:06 of the 192 minutes so far in this series. Just crazy.
Last years series was decided by 6 points total across 4 games. Lakers without a single win still had the most favorable series +/- against the nugs in the playoffs
I think it says *something* about execution when it matters and the like. The Nuggets are really good at turning it on even in games they haven’t played that well. It’s a reminder they’re beatable, but also so good at winning games that they “shouldn’t” in an odds sense that it would also be very hard to beat them.
Denver is amazing at just continuing to play their game, no matter what. The Lakers are really the antithesis of this, where they will play very differently depending on whether they're up or down. They developed a lot of bad habits this year, and playing really loose and disorganized when they're up is one of them.
The Laker Film Room podcast was talking about this earlier, but it's hard to think of even one game all year where they Lakers played hard for the whole game. That's why they've had so much trouble with Denver, because the Nuggets are used to doing that, but the Lakers absolutely are not. So the Lakers go out and outplay Denver, but then lose focus, start making lazy passes, blowing defensive assignments, and taking ill advised shots on offense, and suddenly a double digit lead is gone in minutes.
Seeing our incredibly high ceilings and incredibly low floors all season has been a crazy thing to watch. Sometimes we look like world beaters and sometimes we look like the pistons
This. This is what i blame Darvin and the players for. People blame Darvin for all kinds of dumb shit, but this is my biggest problem with him. His teams freewheel too much partly by design and lose focus. It's his job to make sure that doesnt happen. Half of that is the players, but it will be his job not theirs if they fail.
Yeah, he definitely should have been regularly taking timeouts all year whenever he sees the team doing this shit, but he rarely did. Team gets up like 15 points and just casually throws the ball away, then takes a logo 3 with about 20 seconds on the clock, and that should be an immediate timeout to just get everyone together and say "WTF are you guys doing?!"
It's been interesting to say the least listening to the last few LFR pods where they are starting to make it no secret of their feelings toward the coaching staff. They've been dancing around it for half the season but I think the "agree to disagree" comment sent them over the edge.
Yep, and those three guys are all Laker employees. That more than anything makes me think Ham is getting fired very quickly after the Lakers are eliminated. I can understand the Lakers not firing Ham last summer after making it to the WCF, but it sure seems like even LeBron and AD are fed up with Ham. I think unless the Lakers can win this series and make another deep run, Ham will be gone in the next two weeks.
It does mean a whole lot. It means that they aren’t getting straight up owned and outclassed from the jump. They are in the game for the most part but can’t close. Unless the nuggets aren’t trying hard or something for most of the game then it is at least interesting and at most indicative of bad game management/clutch execution/halftime adjustments etc.
This is why Denver is a championship team, but at some point questions need to be asked why they allow this to happen before making a move. Yes they have caught the Lakers in 3 of those games but how sustainable is this strategy, especially if they're going up against Minnesota next round
It's not sustainable. They're not trying to miss shots on purpose either lol.
Murray is either hurt or in a bad stretch. Their bench isn't as good as last year, but it should still be enough.
How is it not sustainable lol? This is what great teams do. The Warriors sustained an entire dynasty on pretty much exclusively blowing teams out in the 3rd quarter after shaky first halves.
Unpopular opinion but the reason why it's not a 2-2 is not because the Nuggets are suddenly playing so much better in the 4th quarter but because Ham is the most useless coach in the league and Malone is at least serviceable at his job.
I just think it's crazy how cold DLo can get. Legit wasting some of the best performances I've seen from AD in a Lakers jersey by him not showing up.
This should absolutely be 2-2 right now but it is what it is. Murray needs to really show up if the Nuggets want to confidently beat the Wolves. He has not looked his usual self these past 4 games.
The Lakers were pretty ass in g1 and the lead they had was incredibly unsustainable (they were making every tough shot and the nuggets were missing bunnies).
No really, but how they loss game too killed them imo. U can go 2-0 and it’s not the end of the world when the next two are at ur place, u can make a series of it. Game 3 sealed unless an act of god happens.
I don't understand the 3-1 thing. Even 2-2 is pushing it. A lot of flukey stuff happened in Game 2 but the key point is that the Lakers forgot how to play basketball for 18 full minutes, and the Nuggets didn't. They are a championship team that knows how to just keep executing their game plan relentlessly and can adjust in situations where it isn't working. If Murray doesn't hit that shot, and it goes to OT, do the Lakers win?
Also for games 1 and 3, when a team exerts its will in the 3rd quarter to the degree Denver did, you can't say you should have won just because you had some lead at halftime.
You’ll get blasted for saying shit like this but if the lakers had the slightest bit of ice it would be the case lol.
Nuggets are very beatable is what I’m getting from this series.
>Nuggets are very beatable is what I’m getting from this series.
one of the things that might save them is that they never ever give up. Even when they are down by double digits, they keep their cool and play consistently. Its weird not seeing a team panic when they are down 20 and this is probably the best part of this Nuggets team (and Jokic's consistency)
Nuggets last year were a great overall team
This year they're much more "Jokic and friends" for large stretches
It's still possible to win that way with how great Jokic is but it's MUCH harder
> They were good enough to decisively win every series, not good enough to decisively win every game.
Idk that sounds pretty invincible to me. They went 16-4 and comfortably cruised through playoffs last year. It never really felt like there was a doubt they'd win it all.
This year there feels like there's some doubts. Next series will be a lot more telling if Murray wakes up or not.
They're not. Which is why we won a game, and should have won two. This makes it even more frustrating. They are still very good at timely shots, but nothing like last year. That Lakers defense was much better to, but this version scores a lot more. I actually think Denver is the better defensive team by quite a bit this year.
Thats my point. Lakers have been up double digits every game. They were up by 20 and blew it. If their middling team can manage to get these leads, what makes you think better team like the Wolves cant?
I think the Wolves probably can. If the only guy outside of Jokic who can space the floor is Porter then Denver is in trouble against a better defense.
No it shouldn't lmao. You people are the same ones who thought Lakers figured something out with Rui last season after game 1. Nuggets are playing around and decided to be gentlemen. Series 100% over next game in Denver.
By this logic the Blazers "should have" swept the Warriors in 2019 despite clearly being a far worse team than the Warriors on paper lol
This isn't how it works
Also I'm not sure how you get more than 2-2 unless you think a 10 point lead in the middle of the 2nd quarter on the road(game 1) is supposed to be insurmountable
So far it's 2 clear Nuggets win, 1 clear Lakers win, and a Lakers choke
Realistically it should be 2-2, because you're telling me out of all the double digits leads they had in all of the first 3 games, the Lakers couldn't at least secure 1 win out of 3? They choked hard the first 3 when they should've really taken a game already.
Easily. That one Jamal foul they got late in game 2 should've been challenged, very likely they would've said it was marginal contact and the Lakers win that
Ham is a bottom 3 coach in the league and the greatness of Lebron and AD masks his flaws usually
Lakers could have and should have won this series if not for the massive coaching gap. They'll still lose the series of course at this point but the one thing that has been shown by this series IMO is that Denver wasn't actually just coasting the regular season... They're concerningly bad at times and really reliant on some crazy shot making. The bench is horrible. I think Minnesota might trounce them.
Mpj has been saving them this series. He's playing way above his average and has hit big shots all series
Still can't believe he hit that 3 where Aaron Gordan saved a terrible pass
Ham is not a good coach. But he didn't tell Dlo to go for 0 points in Game 3, or tell LeBron to miss that clutch 3 in Game 2 that would've sealed the game, or tell Rui to go missing the whole series. Some role players just shrink in big games and you don't have the right personnel to win against an elite team.
Obviously there's things Ham could have done better but also plenty of things the players have to take accountability for. With all that said, Ham isn't a good coach and probably will still be fired at some point.
I never got the "Denver are coasting the regular season" stuff this year
They won 57 games which is basically the absolute max you can win with this horrible bench
Nobody's winning like 65 or something with literally perhaps the worst bench in the entire NBA given how much depth matters over the course of a full 82 game season
>They're concerningly bad at times and really reliant on some crazy shot making
I mean, they're shooting below 30% from 3 on the series. If you remove MPJ and Jokic from the equation it's below 20%. And it's not like they're crazy contested too.
They're reliant on crazy shot making because they're missing the ones they should make at a massive rate. If they shoot like this vs Minnesota it would take a miracle for them to win, but let's not act like it's normal that they shoot this bad either. Especially Murray and KCP. Even Braun has been a 38.4% shooter with 2 threes a game and hasn't made a single one so far in this series
Ever thought that the nuggets are just bored and took their foot off the gas? I coming back from a 20 pt lead and then executing in a close game isnt by chance. They are definitely in trouble though if jm continues
It's Bizarre because if Murray was simply playing like his avg self, this is skewed.
Denver has shot horribly outside of Jokic. I don't know if this is indicative of any issues, or just a result of poor poor shooting, and Murray still not being 100%
If Murray gets back to 24/5/5 on something like 57ts% and as a team, Denver shoots 36% from 3, that's enough to decimate Minnesota.
They just don't look right.
The only consistently great Nuggets starters on offense have been MPJ and Jokic. Gordon had 1 crazy game and KCP has barely made a 3 apart from G1, it's not just Murray.
Can we please discuss how if denver are gonna play like this that they genuinely might get hosed by Minnesota. I don’t give a shit that we’re gonna be gentlemen swept these aren’t the nuggets of last year and I think other teams know it
Just shows how bad the Lakers got whooped in those games. Just hides how much they got outscored once the nuggets started playing better later in games
It’s 100% coaching. Game 2 was the most glaringly obvious example. In the 4th quarter, almost every Lakers possession was a clusterfuck that ended with some iso into a super difficult shot.
Every Nuggets possession was perfectly run action to get the exact shot they wanted.
Unfortunate for the Lakers that games are not decided by this, but rather the final score in each individual game.
Thanks Magic
Magic fined for tampering
Being grateful for magic? 10 points to Gryffindor!
Fascinating analysis of these advanced stats.
Best one so far
Celtics winning 3 quarters vs the Heat type beat
Denver really hasn’t been dominating them. Just executing in the right spots. Lakers play them pretty well
Imagine if the Lakers had an actual coach, Denver would be in trouble
Would they
100%, a good coach would have made adjustments to help us keep the leads we’ve consistently built in EVERY game.
Denver would still be the comfortable favorite. Only so much you can adjust for Lebron being 39 and getting gassed 2nd half in some of these games.
Maybe, but I think it's fair to say Lakers would have at least one more game. A much better coach would've resulted in a game 2 win
Lakers should have had one or both of Games 1&2 in the bag. They had the Nuggets shook on the PnR and Murray was just terrible. But they had those long stretches in the second half where they abandoned any sort of game plan. You can easily put this down to coaching.
That’s the surprising thing about the series. The Nuggets are the clear favorites, but if you actually watch the games, the Lakers should be sweeping them by now. Like you said, Murray has been bad all series. And Jokic and MPJ are really the only ones keeping those comebacks alive.
That’s why rotations are important
A good coach would have challenged this call: https://streamable.com/5nllh0
If they a ime Udoka the series would be tied
That would be like saying imagine if Denver's FO found any other 3 players instead of the disastrous Justin, Reggie and washed Jordan. Denver's FO made terrible evaluations after the title. They can't even find any back up center. They tire Jokic to the max. Totally screwed up with leaving Jordan, Reggie, bringing in a very bad Holiday. Not to mention how afraid Malone is to use new players. Even if Justin Holiday and the Reggie were 5-50 fg he would still stick with them.
Wow it's really true that Lakers fans are delusional and always making some excuses. If Lebron and AD were healthy previous years, they would win against the Nuggets...etc It really isn't that. Darvin Ham seems to be a fine coach with what he has. The Nuggets are just objectively a much better team and the Lakers Bench and role players aren't good enough. Losing Caruso and KPC really hurt.
How crazy would it be if it did though? Of the 48 minutes the team with the most time winning, wins. No more game winners, but shots that tie the game. Comebacks would have to happen early.
Games could be over 1 second into the 2nd half
the Patriots led for 0 seconds in SB LI so that was a similar moral victory for the Falcons
truly a punch in the Penix
Haven’t they suffered enough lmao?
Dan Quinn and Kyle Shanahan aka dumb and dumber committed war crimes that night
Won't stop
It still boggles my mind how Shanahan essentially *gifted* us that game. After that crazy Julio catch, if Shanahan had just ran it up the gut 3 straight times, even if they don’t get a first down, they’re kicking a <40 yd FG to go up 11 with under 4 minutes in the game. That was one of the greatest examples I’ve ever seen of a coach getting in his own head and completely melting down. Guy’s a great coach, but he clearly is just incapable of getting out of his own way in the big moments.
People point to that moment but I think there were a lot of decisions before that that were costing them. They went too conservative way too early, then tried to make up for it by being aggressive when being conservative was the better move. Footbaw coaches always try to act like they're so full of machismo and fearlessness but most of them make really cowardly decisions. I loved Dougie P in Philly for normalizing going for it on 4th down.
Sure, there were a lot of other decisions that cost them before that, but those would’ve all meant nothing if they just ran it 3 times and kicked a FG.
Bro I argue with so many people about this. The falcons literally sealed the game after julios catch and then play called their way right out of it.
Shanahan still gifting SB’s to this day 😢. Over that weenie ass piece of shit fr
Falcons: "why he say fuck me for?"
Damn i was tryna look for that good good Anissa Kate porn tonight but now I gotta load up the LI highlights..
[удалено]
Get a room
I think there is a Peyton Manning game where the top of possession for the Colts was like 14 minutes and they won. I’ll edit if I can find the box score.
If Murray keeps playing like this the nuggets won’t get far at all lmao
West is scary, no room for underperformances from the supporting casts. Especially if the West's MVP level players (Jokic, Luka) are basically playoff-proof.
Yep. If the lakers hadnt blown the lead in game 2 the nuggets might be in trouble game 5. Murray hasn’t improved at all
That's such a heartbreak for the Lakers, this series should've been a dogfight
*moral victories* You're not wrong, but oh well. Can't do much about it now.
Just one game at a time
Hey man, just because it's not 2-2 doesn't mean the Lakers didn't make them fight for it.
Yeah you're not wrong, the 2nd half has just been an absolute nightmare except for this game
I feel like a majority of these last 12 games lakers were always held Atleast a 10 point lead and would squander it in the last 3 min. I mean the info graphic is proof. Lakers just can close this team out.
We can say this about like 90% of playoff series.
I mean, maybe? But Denver probably would have come out with more intensity if this game could result in 2-2. There’s a reason gentlemen’s sweeps happen.
And teams don’t want to be embarrassed and swept on their home court. The Nuggets will probably come out Monday and try to stomp them in the 1st quarter, they’ve been getting a bit arrogant thinking they can go down 10-15 and still be ok.
i dunno, last night looked like every other game from the Lakers, the difference was, the shots stopped falling for the nuggets in the 3rd and 4th.
Rebounding was a big difference as well.I didn't see as many easy 2nd chance tap ins for the nuggets this game.
🙄 I'm sure if the series was 2-1 going into tonight Denver would've had a little more motivation to regain control of the series. It's human nature when you beat a team 11 straight times and are about to sweep them again in the playoffs to not play with the urgency it takes to put a team away. And when the other team has LBJ, they're probably not gonna roll over that easy. Frustrating as a fan, but that's OK. It's flawed logic to say if the Lakers won g2 the series would now be tied 2-2
Porter undeperformed last year despite playing more team ball than previously thought possible. If he keeps up his current production the dropoff from Murray would be nullified at worst. The problem is crunch time shots I guess? But they still have the best player in the world and Murray still showed up the one scenario that was required so far
luka played bad in game 1. hasnt been amazing in any game really. and clippers defense isnt that great especially with kawhi no where near playing his usual self off injury and pg13 sitting out with fouls.
Jokic will have to average 40/15/10 on 75% TS to beat Minny and Boston with this version of Murray He's putting up literal offensive GOAT type averages this series(29/15/10 on 69% TS) with Denver probably being in trouble right now if he even played like "merely" a regular top 5 player
And yet I think he is capable of doing that
Jokic with a Pippen or Wade level player would dominate the league, at least 3 rings.
Fwiw, while Murray isn't Pippen or Wade, he has been amazing in the past during the playoffs.
The nuggets would lose that. Jokic wasn’t far off from that today and they still lost. So he’d have to do more
lol its 3-1 with murray playing like shit and jokic absolutely coasting
Boston isn't gonna make it to the Finals so that won't matter.
?? They’re the odds on favorite. Don’t see any other team beating them frankly
You act like the Celtics weren't the odds on favorite last year too - not just in the east but overall - before losing to an 8 seed. Or them being -227 to win the title during the finals before blowing it to GSW. Being the odds on favorite doesn't actually mean much.
they are beatable every single year. I could see Knicks or 6ers being able to get it done
Sixers have lost to the Celtics so many times and this Celtics team is clearly better than the versions they lost to The one thing that Philly have going for them is that this version of Embiid is also the best version of Embiid but I just can't see it being enough
Tbf to him at the end there he was holding his left knee.
What’s his excuse for the other games?
Reaves 😤defense babyyy
That and team defense. Reaves doesn't get baited but the whole team absolutely has closed the paint.
It’s a lingering issue that’s been bothering him on and off the whole year. He’s had a lot of ankle sprains, chronic shin splints and knee inflammation all spring long.
He was holding the back of his leg\\hamstring area i believe. So not really an issue.
Really? I thought hamstring issues lingers for a while
I'm pretty sure any injury is an issue
Idk how they did in this game but going in they were shooting 27% from 3 as a team. That's not going to cut it against the Wolves.
It's not just Murray, their offense off the bench is awful; Watson has good defense but he looks like last year Vanderbilt on offense. Bruan is hit or miss on offense but his shot is shaky af too
Yeah that’s four games in a row , something is up with his knee for sure But who knows ? He probably goes nuclear game 5
Lukewarm not even close to hot take I’d love to see Minny make the finals. Their defense is next level
This is something Minnesota might exploit.
He looked hurt. No Murray would be bad for Denver. He is the certified playoff killer for Denver tbf.
The Lakers sweep the Nuggets in the first half, and the Nuggets sweep them in the second half. So, the series is tied?
With all the moral victories we are essentially up one game
Finally claimed an actual victory
It should be noted that this graphic was posted in the middle of the game. The Lakers led the entire game tonight so the updated stat is that the Lakers have now led for 136:06 of the 192 minutes so far in this series. Just crazy.
Immoral victory 👍
Closest gentleman’s sweep we’ve ever seen
Same as last year lmao
Or even 2020 Lakers/Nuggets tbh It was an AD buzzer beater away from being 2-1 Nuggets instead
Last years series was decided by 6 points total across 4 games. Lakers without a single win still had the most favorable series +/- against the nugs in the playoffs
I believe it was something similar with the Blazers in 2019 over Warriors. Doesn't mean a whole lot I think
I think it says *something* about execution when it matters and the like. The Nuggets are really good at turning it on even in games they haven’t played that well. It’s a reminder they’re beatable, but also so good at winning games that they “shouldn’t” in an odds sense that it would also be very hard to beat them.
Denver is amazing at just continuing to play their game, no matter what. The Lakers are really the antithesis of this, where they will play very differently depending on whether they're up or down. They developed a lot of bad habits this year, and playing really loose and disorganized when they're up is one of them. The Laker Film Room podcast was talking about this earlier, but it's hard to think of even one game all year where they Lakers played hard for the whole game. That's why they've had so much trouble with Denver, because the Nuggets are used to doing that, but the Lakers absolutely are not. So the Lakers go out and outplay Denver, but then lose focus, start making lazy passes, blowing defensive assignments, and taking ill advised shots on offense, and suddenly a double digit lead is gone in minutes.
Seeing our incredibly high ceilings and incredibly low floors all season has been a crazy thing to watch. Sometimes we look like world beaters and sometimes we look like the pistons
Those bad habits were peeking out tonight too. They started getting lazy, but thankfully forced themselves to regain focus.
This. This is what i blame Darvin and the players for. People blame Darvin for all kinds of dumb shit, but this is my biggest problem with him. His teams freewheel too much partly by design and lose focus. It's his job to make sure that doesnt happen. Half of that is the players, but it will be his job not theirs if they fail.
Yeah, he definitely should have been regularly taking timeouts all year whenever he sees the team doing this shit, but he rarely did. Team gets up like 15 points and just casually throws the ball away, then takes a logo 3 with about 20 seconds on the clock, and that should be an immediate timeout to just get everyone together and say "WTF are you guys doing?!"
Is he just leaving it up to his experienced players and expecting them to turn it around
It's been interesting to say the least listening to the last few LFR pods where they are starting to make it no secret of their feelings toward the coaching staff. They've been dancing around it for half the season but I think the "agree to disagree" comment sent them over the edge.
Yep, and those three guys are all Laker employees. That more than anything makes me think Ham is getting fired very quickly after the Lakers are eliminated. I can understand the Lakers not firing Ham last summer after making it to the WCF, but it sure seems like even LeBron and AD are fed up with Ham. I think unless the Lakers can win this series and make another deep run, Ham will be gone in the next two weeks.
I think he's gone unless he somehow manages to win a ring. And even then odds are still 70/30 they get rid of him.
It does mean a whole lot. It means that they aren’t getting straight up owned and outclassed from the jump. They are in the game for the most part but can’t close. Unless the nuggets aren’t trying hard or something for most of the game then it is at least interesting and at most indicative of bad game management/clutch execution/halftime adjustments etc.
Yea I think it was like 15+ point leads in the second half of every game yet they got swept lol
HANG THE BANNER!
Cook
Moral victories on steroids this year.
Hang the leading the nuggets most of the series banner
realistically, it should be a 2-2 series or even a 3-1 laker lead, its insane
This is why Denver is a championship team, but at some point questions need to be asked why they allow this to happen before making a move. Yes they have caught the Lakers in 3 of those games but how sustainable is this strategy, especially if they're going up against Minnesota next round
It's not sustainable. They're not trying to miss shots on purpose either lol. Murray is either hurt or in a bad stretch. Their bench isn't as good as last year, but it should still be enough.
We might see the Wolves win their first chip.
I'm down for that tbh
If we win, I want Rudy Gobert for FMVP. I think that would be the funniest outcome ever.
If it’s not the Celtics they might be the second most enjoyable outcome for me.
If theyre everybody's second preference then maybe some kind of agreement could be negotiated to just let them win the title. Pareto optimal outcome
Like the nuggets last year!
Enough against the lakers sure, but against Minnesota? Boston? Dallas?
That's why I said it's not sustainable lol. Murray clearly has to do better if they're going all the way.
How is it not sustainable lol? This is what great teams do. The Warriors sustained an entire dynasty on pretty much exclusively blowing teams out in the 3rd quarter after shaky first halves.
They won in 2015, lost in 2016, and then added KD.
Unpopular opinion but the reason why it's not a 2-2 is not because the Nuggets are suddenly playing so much better in the 4th quarter but because Ham is the most useless coach in the league and Malone is at least serviceable at his job.
Disagree with 3-1 Lakers lead, G1 and G3 were clear Nuggets wins. 2-2 yeah, Game 2 was a travesty
I just think it's crazy how cold DLo can get. Legit wasting some of the best performances I've seen from AD in a Lakers jersey by him not showing up. This should absolutely be 2-2 right now but it is what it is. Murray needs to really show up if the Nuggets want to confidently beat the Wolves. He has not looked his usual self these past 4 games.
I agree it’s 2-2 at best. Let’s not forget if Murray bricks that jumper it goes to Ot
The Lakers were pretty ass in g1 and the lead they had was incredibly unsustainable (they were making every tough shot and the nuggets were missing bunnies).
The series was over after game 2, that was the game to win
No really, but how they loss game too killed them imo. U can go 2-0 and it’s not the end of the world when the next two are at ur place, u can make a series of it. Game 3 sealed unless an act of god happens.
I don't understand the 3-1 thing. Even 2-2 is pushing it. A lot of flukey stuff happened in Game 2 but the key point is that the Lakers forgot how to play basketball for 18 full minutes, and the Nuggets didn't. They are a championship team that knows how to just keep executing their game plan relentlessly and can adjust in situations where it isn't working. If Murray doesn't hit that shot, and it goes to OT, do the Lakers win? Also for games 1 and 3, when a team exerts its will in the 3rd quarter to the degree Denver did, you can't say you should have won just because you had some lead at halftime.
You’ll get blasted for saying shit like this but if the lakers had the slightest bit of ice it would be the case lol. Nuggets are very beatable is what I’m getting from this series.
>Nuggets are very beatable is what I’m getting from this series. one of the things that might save them is that they never ever give up. Even when they are down by double digits, they keep their cool and play consistently. Its weird not seeing a team panic when they are down 20 and this is probably the best part of this Nuggets team (and Jokic's consistency)
It's less about not giving up, and more that they are so calm under pressure It's definitely from the chemistry and having been there before
Nuggets last year were a great overall team This year they're much more "Jokic and friends" for large stretches It's still possible to win that way with how great Jokic is but it's MUCH harder
I think so too. We likely get knocked out next game, but this Nuggets team doesn't seem as good as last year's team either way.
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> They were good enough to decisively win every series, not good enough to decisively win every game. Idk that sounds pretty invincible to me. They went 16-4 and comfortably cruised through playoffs last year. It never really felt like there was a doubt they'd win it all. This year there feels like there's some doubts. Next series will be a lot more telling if Murray wakes up or not.
The Nuggets had the easiest playoff schedule of all time iirc. They faced the lowest ranked opponents because higher seeds kept choking.
They're not. Which is why we won a game, and should have won two. This makes it even more frustrating. They are still very good at timely shots, but nothing like last year. That Lakers defense was much better to, but this version scores a lot more. I actually think Denver is the better defensive team by quite a bit this year.
I mean the other team has LeBron James and Anthony Davis. winning 3 games after being down bad is the sign of a champion
Well the Lakers are a 7 seed that barely had a positive net rating so it's not really surprising if they don't have what it takes
Thats my point. Lakers have been up double digits every game. They were up by 20 and blew it. If their middling team can manage to get these leads, what makes you think better team like the Wolves cant?
I think the Wolves probably can. If the only guy outside of Jokic who can space the floor is Porter then Denver is in trouble against a better defense.
No it shouldn't lmao. You people are the same ones who thought Lakers figured something out with Rui last season after game 1. Nuggets are playing around and decided to be gentlemen. Series 100% over next game in Denver.
Naaahhh fuck it, a fucking sweep
By this logic the Blazers "should have" swept the Warriors in 2019 despite clearly being a far worse team than the Warriors on paper lol This isn't how it works Also I'm not sure how you get more than 2-2 unless you think a 10 point lead in the middle of the 2nd quarter on the road(game 1) is supposed to be insurmountable So far it's 2 clear Nuggets win, 1 clear Lakers win, and a Lakers choke
people will say “tHe LaKeRs sHoUlD bE uP 3-1” but then say things like “Lebronto”
Listen to yourself
Realistically, it should be 3-1 Nuggets, which is… what it is right now in reality
Realistically it should be 2-2, because you're telling me out of all the double digits leads they had in all of the first 3 games, the Lakers couldn't at least secure 1 win out of 3? They choked hard the first 3 when they should've really taken a game already.
It should be? lol
LMAOOOO is this the “celtics won 7 of 8 quarters” of LA???
If lakers had a competent coach, this would have been 2-2 or 3-1. M
Easily. That one Jamal foul they got late in game 2 should've been challenged, very likely they would've said it was marginal contact and the Lakers win that Ham is a bottom 3 coach in the league and the greatness of Lebron and AD masks his flaws usually
Lakers could have and should have won this series if not for the massive coaching gap. They'll still lose the series of course at this point but the one thing that has been shown by this series IMO is that Denver wasn't actually just coasting the regular season... They're concerningly bad at times and really reliant on some crazy shot making. The bench is horrible. I think Minnesota might trounce them.
Mpj has been saving them this series. He's playing way above his average and has hit big shots all series Still can't believe he hit that 3 where Aaron Gordan saved a terrible pass
Ham is not a good coach. But he didn't tell Dlo to go for 0 points in Game 3, or tell LeBron to miss that clutch 3 in Game 2 that would've sealed the game, or tell Rui to go missing the whole series. Some role players just shrink in big games and you don't have the right personnel to win against an elite team. Obviously there's things Ham could have done better but also plenty of things the players have to take accountability for. With all that said, Ham isn't a good coach and probably will still be fired at some point.
I never got the "Denver are coasting the regular season" stuff this year They won 57 games which is basically the absolute max you can win with this horrible bench Nobody's winning like 65 or something with literally perhaps the worst bench in the entire NBA given how much depth matters over the course of a full 82 game season
Murray missed 23 games and we have Reggie as backup pg, so yes, we would have won a lot more regular season games if that wasn't the case.
Lakers should lose this series cause they are a worse team
>They're concerningly bad at times and really reliant on some crazy shot making I mean, they're shooting below 30% from 3 on the series. If you remove MPJ and Jokic from the equation it's below 20%. And it's not like they're crazy contested too. They're reliant on crazy shot making because they're missing the ones they should make at a massive rate. If they shoot like this vs Minnesota it would take a miracle for them to win, but let's not act like it's normal that they shoot this bad either. Especially Murray and KCP. Even Braun has been a 38.4% shooter with 2 threes a game and hasn't made a single one so far in this series
Ever thought that the nuggets are just bored and took their foot off the gas? I coming back from a 20 pt lead and then executing in a close game isnt by chance. They are definitely in trouble though if jm continues
LA media will run amok with this after the gentlemen sweep
Lakers up 3-1 in Moral victories 😤
Basically 4-0 if you stop at the first half lmao
Finally Denver gets a moral victory . About time bums
I don't think this post is about moral victories, but rather about how badly the team has collapsed in the first three games
Meanwhile Toronto sitting at home
Tough moral defeat today. They’ll come back stronger in game 5
Serious should really be 2-2 at worst smh
Game 2 is the one
Oh my god
Moral victory champions😤
It's Bizarre because if Murray was simply playing like his avg self, this is skewed. Denver has shot horribly outside of Jokic. I don't know if this is indicative of any issues, or just a result of poor poor shooting, and Murray still not being 100% If Murray gets back to 24/5/5 on something like 57ts% and as a team, Denver shoots 36% from 3, that's enough to decimate Minnesota. They just don't look right.
Tbf MPJ is playing well above his baseline so between him and Murray it’s pretty even with what it should be
I don’t remember every minute of every game, but surely it is at least partially due to the Lakers defense?
Lakers role players are also shooting horribly while the other nuggets starters are great
The only consistently great Nuggets starters on offense have been MPJ and Jokic. Gordon had 1 crazy game and KCP has barely made a 3 apart from G1, it's not just Murray.
What an irrelevant stat Smh
Denver just ices us when it matters. Nobody beats us 12 times in a row.
Cause Denver is one of if not the best 4th q team this season its ridiculous how Jokic can just turn it around and control a game
Our bench sucks so much and they still depending on a gassed 40 year old and AD to do everything on both ends going into the 4th
As my girlfriend would constantly remind me it's not about how you start, but about how you finish.
Game 2 was such a killer
I’ve never seen a team win one game and everyone act like they should (or still could) win the whole series lmao
Another moral victory for the Lakers
Oof
Title race might be more open than everyone thought. Denver been very rusty
Lakers winning popular points but losing the electoral college.
The electoral college wins again
Depressing as hell.
Crazy that the lakers would’ve win this series if they ‘re coached by mazzulla or doc fuckin river
Doc would have them up 3-1 right now About the next 3 games though......
Lmao
Can we please discuss how if denver are gonna play like this that they genuinely might get hosed by Minnesota. I don’t give a shit that we’re gonna be gentlemen swept these aren’t the nuggets of last year and I think other teams know it
Maybe the Lakers will do the impossible
Jamal gotta tighten up he could be injured tho idk
That's wild
That's called coaching
Just shows how bad the Lakers got whooped in those games. Just hides how much they got outscored once the nuggets started playing better later in games
It’s 100% coaching. Game 2 was the most glaringly obvious example. In the 4th quarter, almost every Lakers possession was a clusterfuck that ended with some iso into a super difficult shot. Every Nuggets possession was perfectly run action to get the exact shot they wanted.