Game Debrief: What Went Right And What Went Wrong?

eh, murray's 18-48 on the series. he gets room to play because jokic is so good. AD was in foul trouble and has to expend a ton of energy defending jokic, and AD guarding jokic also takes him away as a help defender. even a few minutes a game where a big body can just keep jokic from setting up shop on the block for easy buckets helps.

 

Yeah...but he's also 10-18, from the field, in the 4th quarter, and he's their leading scorer in the 4th. He's getting into the lane at will, late, in almost every game we've played, since the Conference Finals.

Jokic is MVP caliber, I know that.. but Murray is also critical, to Denver being a Championship caliber team. There isn't much, we can do differently, against Jokic IMO, but we do have more options to throw at Murray.

That kid is legit. He's not just riding Jokic's coattails

 

In the last game, Denver spent a lot of energy to beat the Lakers, and the Lakers should easily win the next game against Denver, and then I hope the Lakers will confidently win the second home game against Denver as well.

 

Yes and Lakers are not going to get tired from altitude

 

they let him get cold and them ask him to shoot from outside? A very poor game plan.

We are outgunned on the coaching side of things. The players will have to step up a couple of notches to have a chance to win the series.

 

This team desperately needs a 3rd star and a big man

 

It was said on here to let MPJ cook. Well, he did.

 

Pathetic effort. Went through the motions. No sense of urgency. Bron and AD got no help. No adjustments at the half. The role players played just as s***ty at home as they did in altitude.

Austin and Dinwiddie tried harder tonight. Attacked more. But even those two get a D+/C- and they were the 3rd and 4th best players on our roster tonight.

 

It's like Denver just wears this team out with their size. Every game we start off well and get gassed and can't do anything. They haven't even played well offensively but get 2nd and 3rd opportunities routinely

 

It's as if size matters in basketball, imagine that.

 

getting wrecked in the 3rd qtr, happened a bunch of times in regular season....wasnt even surprised once Den took control of the game

 

Third quarter is the land of coaching adjustments. This seems to be a weakness of ours against Denver, and I can’t figure out why.

 

Don’t worry- Ham will figure it out this summer.

 

He scored 20pts, 1 pt over his last game. He avg 17pts for the season. That ain't cooking.

 

5pts out of D'Angelo and Rui? They may be traded together.

 

LOL. I'm sure his shooting splits will tell a different story.

 

Not gonna get in your little t** for tat stuff that you love to do. My eyes don’t lie. Find someone else.

 

Once again, we didn’t get squat in the way of scoring or defensive help from anyone not named Anthony Davis or LeBron James. The awful FT shooting certainly didn’t help matters either. Hate to say it, but it seems guys like D-LO, Rui and AR are just not post season players.

 

Our looooooooooong nightmare against DEN continues. And, for me at least, it is a nightmare. I didn't look forward to watching this game because I assumed it would be more pain. We jump out to an 8-0 lead and I think, "This one is gonna suck to lose."

With 4:08 left in the 2nd Gabe hits a 17 footer, assisted by AD. Lakers up 47-37. This is gonna really blow when they catch us, pass us, and...did I say it's a nightmare? I'm sorry: it's a recurring nightmare.

Every time we get to the rack there are 3 Nugs right there to contest and grab a board. DEN puts up a shot and its misses: there are 3 guys down low competing for an offensive board.

DEN/Malone basically said: D-Lo and a couple others hit outside shots and 3s in game 2 but they won't in Game 3. Of course! As a team 5 for 27 from 3: 18%. D-Lo was gawdawful and deserved the rare Crypto boos. Take your "smoke" elsewhere as far as I'm concerned. Just shriveled in front of an amped crowd.

But of everyone trying a 3, only one guy hit more than 1: AR and he had 2 and that 2nd one was in desperation/garbage.

Aaron Gordon loses his man, gets underneath the basket and a Nug hits him for a layup.

We are not this bad, but we cannot beat DEN. Their defense is too good. You get the ball and there's a guy right in your jock and he's smothering you. They clog the passing lanes. They switch off and know where each other is, it seems, at every moment. You drive to the rack and it's like 2-3 redwood trees spring up to contest. I really do hope they beat the living EFF outta BOS in the Finals.

Will we win...FINALLY...in Game 4? I mean, we should. We should put up a fight and finally snap our insane losing streak against DEN. But I don't see it. The Lakers came out in Game 3 and punched DEN in the mouth and DEN just said, Hey it's a long game. It felt like we thought they would wither, but when they didn't we got scared and lost. I don't think the Lakers will win Game 4. Not gonna lie. I don't think we believe we can match their physicality, size, or skills. Maybe the team believed it even after Game 1. After Game 2? I don't think so. Now? I think it's a mental block with the team. There are many more ways to lose to DEN and we'll see yet another version in a couple days.

One last thing: Regardless of what happens in Game 4, Anthony Davis is the MVP of this series. Not Jokic, not Murray. AD.