The Nuggets and the Lakers are about to face each other in the round 1 of playoffs. This season the LeBron James-led team hasn’t performed well against the Nikola Jokic and Co. However, Stephen A. Smith believes that there’s still hope left for the LA franchise if they wish to turn things around. On a recent episode of First Take, SAS listed out some of the reasons that should fuel the fire inside the ones in purple and gold when they go against the Nuggets.
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The Lakers were crushed by the Nuggets in the Western Conference finals last season and Smith believes that they’re prepared to repeat that in 2024. However, according to the ESPN analyst if LeBron can take up the role of a “giant slayer” his team won’t meet the same fate as the previous season. He reminded the Lakers that they have been ridiculed thrice by the Nuggets in this season alone.
“The last three times that y’all played against one another, in this season, opening night, it was their ring ceremony. They let you watch them get their rings then they went out there and took you out.”
The next time when the two teams faced each other was on the night when the late, great Kobe Bryant’s statue was unveiled. The Nuggets thrashed the LA franchise on the night when they celebrated their biggest legend. The third occasion was when LeBron reached 40k points in the league and the Nuggets beat them to ruin yet another moment of celebration for the Lakers. Stephen A. said,
“When you’ve got that going up against you, you rise up and you’re like, yeah, I need to take this personal.”
Hopefully, this reminder will bring some change in the way the Lakers approach the next games against the Nuggets. However, it is not going to be easy because not only are they on a losing record against them but they’re also at a disadvantage as far as the playing conditions are concerned. The Ball Arena is located almost a mile above the sea level and that’s not an environment that the Lakers are used to as of now. However, Lakers’ Anthony Davis is up for the challenge despite all the records and disadvantages.
Anthony Davis is prepared for the Nuggets challenge
A lot of the responsibility to take the team deeper into the postseason would be on Anthony Davis alongside LeBron. While the expectations continue to rise, AD told The Athletic’s Jovan Buha that he is prepared for whatever challenge is thrown at the Lakers in the first round.
He said, “If they beat us, they beat us. We’re not ducking the smoke.” The Lakers camp sounds confident but they will not make the mistake of undermining their opponent.
LeBron said, “It’s the defending champion. They know what it takes. They know how to win. They’ve been extremely dominant on their home floor over the last few years. They’ve got an MVP on their team.”
Despite the odds stacked against them, LeBron’s squad is prepared to take down the mighty Nuggets. If they keep the same energy, fans will get to witness two titans on their A game battling to go one up over the other.
