The Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff campaign is off to a disappointing start after losing the first game of the series to the Nuggets 103-114. Apart from their first-quarter lead by 8 points, the Lakers were completely outplayed by Nikola Jokic and Co. The LA side’s collapse in Game 1 has made their biggest fans wary of their chances in the series. Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson discussed the Lakers’ loss recently and tried to dissect the underlying issues with the team.
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Unc Sharpe believes that the Lakers can’t depend on the duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis to pull them through in this seven-game series. On the recent episode of Nightcap, he said that the other three players on the court will also have to contribute significantly if they want to avenge last season’s sweep at the hands of the Nuggets in the Conference Finals. Several people from the media fraternity have shown optimism about the Lakers‘ chances of pulling off a miracle against the Denver franchise. However, it seems like Unc can sense what’s going to happen by next week.
Sharpe told Ochocinco during the show, “Your big guns are going off…and you’re up three. They can’t play any better.” Sharpe believes that AD and LeBron doing the best they can is still not enough to contain the Nuggets. He also suggested that a new matchup should be created between the other three starters since Jokic and Jamal Murray cancel out LeBron and AD. He said, “If you go look at the box score tonight, their three outplayed our three.”
The starting five of the Nuggets scored in double digits with Aaron Gordon, Jokic, and Murray clocking double-doubles. As for the Lakers, only AD could reach that mark with 32-14-5, while LeBron was the only other player with 20+ points. So, based on the stats, Sharpe’s claim makes a lot of sense, and the Lakers might want to take a look into it.
Skip Bayless blames LeBron James for the loss
Right before the Lakers started their campaign against the Nuggets, Skip Bayless was up in arms about LeBron’s chances of cruising past Jokic and Co. Bayless even claimed that LeBron has been blessed by the higher power right before the playoffs and that he is not going to lose against the Nuggets. Immediately after the Game 1 loss, Bayless changed his stance and went back to his regular stance on LBJ.
The media veteran posted a clip on UNDISPUTED’s YouTube channel detailing LeBron’s faults in the loss. He said, “I just watched him play the last nine minutes at Denver and take two shots once the game was completely over because he wanted to make a point.” Bayless added that LeBron was acting like a “diva” and is tired at this point of all the criticism that he has been receiving.
