Two powerhouses of the Western Conference may be headed toward yet another playoff matchup. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets have faced off in the postseason the last two years, with the Nuggs coming out as clear victors. Gilbert Arenas thinks that if the two forces met again this year things would be different, and gave his reasoning why on the latest edition of his Gil’s Arena podcast.
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In 2023, the 7th-seeded Lakers put up a valiant effort, but were not able to fend off the dynamic duo of Jokic and Murray, who would lead the Nuggs to an NBA Championship. The following year LeBron and company battled the Nuggets again, this time in the first round, but blew multiple double-digit point leads and were eliminated in 5 games. The back-t0-back losses led the Lakers to dismiss their head coach at the time, Darvin Ham.
Kenyon Martin sees a third consecutive loss for the Lakers if they end up facing the Nuggets. His biggest argument? Nikola Jokic. “They got that equalizer out there man,” the grizzly veteran stated.
“To anything that anybody got going on out here.” Martin expressed that he just doesn’t think JJ Redick’s squad can get it done. But Arenas reminded Martin of one key weapon that the Lakers now have.
“We got grown men now,” stated Gil referring to Doncic. He predicted that The Don would come in to start the 4th while LeBron got some rest, an option they didn’t have prior when AD was still on the team. Martin countered by asking whether Luka would be able to guard Jokic? “They cancel each other out,” claimed Gil. “They got rid of the person he was burping.”
The Lakers vs Nuggets playoff series gonna be a movie pic.twitter.com/gmt28MlQA5
— Gil’s Arena (@GilsArenaShow) March 21, 2025
Martin was still unconvinced. He refused to allow Gil, on his show, try and “pitch” that the Lakers could actually do it.
Fortunately for Arenas, there is already proof that the Lakers could get the job done against The Joker and company, since they did it earlier this year.
JJ Redick’s strategized a masterpiece when the two teams met in February
The Lakers bested the Nuggets on February 22 123-100. The game saw Luka Doncic drop 32 for the Purple and Gold, his best performance since joining the team earlier that month. While James also had a solid offensive outing (25 points) it was the team’s defensive efforts that were more impressive.
Lakers coach JJ Redick schemed a masterful plan to suppress Jokic thanks to a mixture of switching and swarming. The plan worked to perfection, as The Joker’s rhythm was thrown off for the duration of the game, specifically as a scorer, where he only had 12 points. He did still record a low-key triple-double, but the numbers were not enough to secure a victory.
Redick deserves the bulk of the credit…and he took it. In the post-game presser after the Lakers nabbed the W he admitted that he hadn’t “slept a lot” preparing for Jokic, and commended his staff for putting a ton of preparation in. “I envisioned our guys playing hard,” he stated. “They played harder than I ever could have envisioned.”
The only worrying aspect of Redick’s plan is that it was a single isolated game. A series is much different because a team has to mentally prepare for numerous avenues that an opposing team could take in their game preparation. Jamal Murray has been known to be a Laker killer in the playoffs, but will he do it again this year? Only time will tell.
