Game 2: Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets 6:30 MT

[Ring]

A must win game IMO. Lakers found a ton of things that led to success in the 2nd half. Malone HAS to make adjustments after a win. He has to.

I doubt the Lakers shoot that well from 3 but I also doubt the Nuggets do as well. Nuggets have to start spamming some more pick and pops and Jokic has to be willing to take and make mid-range Js at a high level.

I really hope the Nuggets understand just how important this game is. The Lakers lost last night, but they have momentum. If they win Game 2, I think things could get out of control.

[GBG]

May 17, 2023 9:41:41 GMT -5 Ring said:

A must win game IMO. Lakers found a ton of things that led to success in the 2nd half. Malone HAS to make adjustments after a win. He has to.

I doubt the Lakers shoot that well from 3 but I also doubt the Nuggets do as well. Nuggets have to start spamming some more pick and pops and Jokic has to be willing to take and make mid-range Js at a high level.

I really hope the Nuggets understand just how important this game is. The Lakers lost last night, but they have momentum. If they win Game 2, I think things could get out of control.

Yep. If Lakers win Game 2, they will go up 3-1 in series. They ain’t losing in LA with any sort of momentum.

I suspect we will need to come from behind to win this game. The momentum Lakers found in 2H last night will carry over. We will be down 10+ at some point in 1H tomorrow, I suspect.

How we respond to adversity will tell the tale for this series.

[jimijam28]

s**t thread, easy w

[Coach Sticky]

WE GOT THIS! Jokic going to destroy Rui

[jimijam28]

May 17, 2023 10:44:47 GMT -5 Coach Sticky said:

WE GOT THIS! Jokic going to destroy Rui

Shut up casual

[blackhill]

If Lakers start Rui and it works for them, sit AG after 5 min. and put in Bruce. If Nugs can play 5 out, we can rain 3s on them if AD just stands near the basket. Joker would probably get Rui in foul trouble fairly quickly too if he can get him on an island a few times. Once we destroy that lineup, AG can come back in.

[Deleted]

LA Lakers 88
Denver 107

Bruce Brown with 21 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks
Braun with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists, 1 block
KCP with 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
Jeff Green with 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist 
Zeke with 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block in 5 minutes
Thomas Bryant with 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block in 3 minutes
Reggie Jackson with 5 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound in 2 minutes
Peyton Watson with 2 points, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 rebound in 2 minutes 


Easy win

Nuggets in 4 

[wizardofcozz]

Lakers will definitely start Rui IMO. I'm guessing 1. Schroder, 2. Reaves, 3. LeBron, 4. Rui, 5. Davis

They may platoon Rui and Vanderbilt and just go big the rest of the series, though when they go with Vanderbilt I'd leave him open and help off in the paint. The key is recognizing who their shooters are and aren't. Can't leave Reaves open, need to make Lebron, Schroder outside shooters. To me it starts with no more switching on Lebron go under everything make Lebron attack and beat us against a bigger defender and wear him out. That I believe will lead to more misses from LAL and more fast break opportunities which means LAL won't have time to set the defense. We are also probably not going to see Jokic score quite as easily until they solve the Davis as a help defender issue, which is probably solved by Jokic finding the open person and them making open shots, and will have to live with Jokic taing less shots. At least until that forces LAL to do something differernt. I also think we need to hit him on the roll so that he's going right at Davis and not backing down Rui where Davis can come help from the block.

[famicommander]

Easy work. Nugs in 5.

[freakns]

Adjustment or not, this will come down to who wants it more. Its all about intensity guys. Nuggets play physical basketball, Nuggets win game 2. Its that simple. We are bigger, we are younger(at least main two guys), we are at home. Impose your will, win.

[Coach Sticky]

I just told somebody to crash into my car tomorrow again so we could take a 2-0 lead

[rock]

I will also crash my car today. Whatever it takes

[Deleted]

JJ Redick is our biggest supporter in the mainstream basketball media

[rock]

Jalen rose usually talks highly of us too

[blackhill]

The voice inside his head was louder than the chorus who considered him finished.

He who can feel tomorrow is far from promised, can truly play as if it is his last game.

America, you will be loving him soon as the perseverance, smile, and shot of MPJ are all marks of a champion.

[famicommander]

3 point playoff shooting from our rotation
Jokic: 51% on 3.6 attempts
Porter: 41% on 6.3 attempts
Murray: 40% on 7.4 attempts
KCP: 39% on 4.5 attemps
Gordon: 35% on 2.4 attempts
Brown: 29% on 2.3 attempts
Green: 27% on 1.8 attempts
Braun: 25% on 0.7 attempts

It would be really nice if Bruce started hitting some more. He shot 36% in the regular season.

I'd like to see CB take some more, too. He shot 35% from 3 in the regular season.

Uncle Jeff is what he is at this point, he's basically shooting his regular season percentage (29%).

[sawyeral]

Nuggets are great at basketball.
I feel good.

[GBG]

Green has been our weak link, and some folks make the mistake that correlation equals causation. Because we’re 9-3 in the playoffs with a steady 8-man rotation, including 19.2 mpg from Green, it’s easy to say “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. I’ve had such debate offline with scooter and believe that Green minutes could at least be cut from over 19 minutes to maybe 10 mpg, if not taken out of rotation entirely. I’ve advocated for a 9-man rotation if Green’s minutes are cut, giving the 10 minutes freed up to Zeke. Maybe he’s been inactive for so long, he’d be rusty. Maybe he’s lost his self-confidence or never had much. But take a look at the hurdle he’d have to surpass in terms of Green’s numbers:

Jeff Green in Playoffs, 12 games at 19.2 mpg…

PER of 4.9
WS/48 of .033. This is shockingly bad for a 9-3 team.
FG%/3PT% of .372/.272.
TS% of 48.2%.
Rebounds at 1.8 per game.

Surely, someone on our bench (Zeke? Cancar? Watson?!) could play backup PF better than this. One doesn’t have to believe we have quality depth to think so. Malone seems to think Jeff Green is Paul Millsap, and that his contribution on defense is worth the poor shooting and lackluster rebounds. I don’t think so, but Malone has had playoff success and maybe shouldn’t be questioned. Again, correlation/causation, IMO.

Thoughts?

[blackhill]

If Davis is going to roam, you need as many shooters out there as possible. If Green cannot hit the long ball, he needs to be out when AD roaming.

[inyourmind]

To me this series will come down to shot making. Both teams will have stretches where they get good looks. Both teams can find certain things the other doesn't have an answer for defensively. Game 1 was a perfect example of when both teams are hitting everything .. the Nuggets are the better team. Denver just needs to show up offensively. That's what it'll come down too. How good can Jokic/Murray/MPJ/Gordon/Bruce/KCP be this series? If 2/3 of those guys disappear for 3 games than we'll be in trouble. If Jokic doesn't keep playing at a high level that we take a huge hit.

Both teams are going to get alot of scoring chances that there able to hit all series long. Will AD be consistent? Will LeBron be aggressive scoring the ball? LeBron had a great game but given how we defended him he probably should have had a better one. No reason why he shouldn't have had a 30+ night against that defense. If LeBron has a bigger first half and matches Jokic/Davis/Murray scoring the ball than it's a different game.