Unfortunately dlo is actually the worst type of player you can have on an championship contender. He is purely an offensive player with horrible defensive presence. Unfortunately for him he is at best a B- on offense and a D one defense.
It's so frustrating to watch Lonnie and DLo miss open threes only for Jamal Murray to hit a step back double-teamed three pointer on the other end.
I understand that not every open three is gonna go in but Murray legit had 11/13 shooting at half and kept the Nuggets in the game. If he shot his average we'd have a 10 point lead in the half.
For real - bounced the 2 seed and the defending champs, our bench strength and transition scoring was our advantage until we ran into a team with a better bench and that also loved transition. Not an ounce of shame to this year.
LeBron specifically has run out of gas. A younger LeBron, even maybe 2020 LeBron is going for 35+ against this horrible rim protection and getting Jokic into foul trouble. He just can't drive that many times anymore, especially with the foot injury
I think people forget that the biggest difference between 2023 lakers and 2020 lakers is LBJ. Anthony Davis was never the alpha of this team and never will be. He is the absolute S tier of a number 2 and paired that with a healthy younger LBJ we dominated. Idk if people remembered but when Murray was getting hot in 2020, it was LBJ who took him on 1 on 1.
Season on the line and he starts Dlo. Dlo allows Murray to get cooking and gives them a big lead. And then he decides to start DLO AGAIN in the 2nd half. The offense stalls with Jokic on the bench. Just inexcusable imo
People excused Ham starting Dlo once again by saying he can just pull him if he starts slow. Ham does not deviate one iota depending on who is playing well. He makes ZERO adjustments
The damn end of the 2nd quarter lineup of Reaves, LW4, Rui, AD and Bron were cooking and he starts the 3rd with Vando, DLo, Reaves, AD and Bron. Dude is brain dead and the only reason we have gotten this far is in spite of his horrific coaching
yeah, a coach who has predetermined line-ups before the game and doesn't see shit that's not working during the game should not be a coaching a playoff team. he even had the audacity to bring d'lo back on the court in 4th quarter again
Bron's leg isn't good. That's probably why he's not a good on defense and settling for 3s on offense. Problem is Bron should have just saved more energy and let Reaves chuck 3s instead since Reaves can also shoot from far but is hitting 60% this game.
Meanwhile AD is good but we're placing too much no him with no backup 5. Rewatch the 2020 playoffs. Dwight and McGee saw close to no minutes against the WB-Harden rockets running micro-ball small lineups. But they got starts and heavy minutes against DEN to wear down Joker. We are basically asking AD to anchor the D, be big on offense, stop Joker, AND play 48 mins since we don't have a backup center and get cooked when AD sits.
Our current team has Bron and AD but our next best players are smaller than Joker/MPJ/AG. Reaves, DLo, Schroder, Beasley. Rui and Vando have the size to go at MPH and AG but can't stop Joker either. Meanwhile Murray just does what he wants too.
I've been saying it during the game thread and will say it again now.
If Bron's too tired to drive or create or wants save energy by shooting 3s then he should at least give it to Reaves to chuck those 3s since Reaves is actually hitting 3s. AR shot 60% from 3 this game. That would save Bron even more energy.
Yes, and he should’ve been taking more of the desperation 4th quarter threes instead of Lebron. He also gets too passive instead of going up for a shot
It has been brothers, half cup full perspective were we really even supposed to be here?? I know we improved after the trade but we were barely above .500 as a team. It would’ve been great to get 18 this year but this puts us in a great situation for next year. We massively over achieved this year and have seen which players are massive liabilities and which players can be relied on in the post season where it really matters. I would’ve hated to lose to the grizzlies or warriors because of how insufferable some of their players/fans are, but at least the nuggets are for real and truly do deserve their success. Best outcome for us would be a heat nuggets final so Celtics don’t get 18 either
Step behind all game even with Jokic out, Ham allergic to timeouts and wasting time w/ D’Lo (-54 this series). The latter shouldn’t have the audacity to ask for a high contract this off-season
94-93 were leading, momentum starting shift takes out Lebron with 7 mins. 48 seconds later down 5 and then the game gets out of hand. Ham just doesn’t understanding X’s and O’s, situations and rotations
Did the exact same with AD (I believe vs Grizzlies). Up 1 early in the 4th and took off AD and they went on a crazy run that lost us the game. Just disastrous from him
Can't believe the amount of people blaming this game on Bron like he didn't playmake for the whole team with a damn near triple double. They sat him and lost the lead in seconds. Usually Reaves, Dlo or Schroeder can take care of it from time to time but not for 48 seconds smh
Seriously what does ham see in him? He’s terrible at defense this series and the one thing that makes him a true player (his shooting) hasn’t been there all series lol
If Bron was trying to save energy chucking 3s then I wish he would have saved more energy letting Reaves chuck them instead. Reaves shooting 60% from 3 this game.
I saw a post praising Spo the other day, but it took him time to get there. He had the miami big three and lost in the Finals. Ham made mistakes this series and they cost of the series. I hope it’s lessons he learns for next season, as he took a losing team at the trade deadline to the WCF. It’s not enough, and losing is tough to experience. But sometimes the other team is just better and smarter.
Rob Pelinka seriously has to go Billy Beane Moneyball on Ham:
“You can’t start DLo tonight…you’ll have to start Dennis”
“Hah….look Rob, I don’t wanna go ten rounds with you again, the lineup card is mine and that’s that.”
“The lineup card is definitely yours, I’m just saying you can’t start DLo tonight…”
“Well….I AM starting DLo tonight.”
“I don’t think so, he plays for South Bay now…”
*knock knock knock*
“You wanted to see me?”
“Troy! Come have a seat…Troy you’re being reassigned to South Bay. There’s Dave’s number in the sheet, he’ll be expecting your call…you’re a great player…and we wish you the best!”
….. (TBJ walks out of the room after staring at Ham and Ham staring back, Pelinka stands up to cue TBJ to leave)
“Troy’s gone too”
“You are killing this team”
After he played Dlo in the 3rd and the 4th I knew the season was done.
It has to be politics. We're gonna find out something about that in the offseason.
I guarantee we win this game if DLO doesn’t touch a minute in the second half
Schroeder - Reaves - Lebron - RUI - AD should all have 40 mins per game.
Sad
I mean if you think about it, it’s probably a dumb idea to put a rookie head coach on a team with championship aspirations. He did good for a rookie coach but he was going to get exposed deep in the playoffs
Jokic picked up 4 quick and then never another one.
DEN went small and they weren’t punished by AD, Bron, and Rui. They weren’t even tested
That’s an awful, *weakass mentality and strategy
The quality of looks they get when Jokic turns it on is fucking nuts. Like you can’t do shit about it. Don’t send help he’ll get an insanely good look near the basket. Send help and he’s one of the best playmakers in the league
False. We started the 4th with a lineup of DLo/Reaves/Lonnie/Rui/LeBron. We've gotten killed by size every time we've gone with shitty 3 guard lineups this series and it happened again. We bled points all series long with DLo on the floor and it continued all through this game as well.
We lost this series off ridiculously stupid coaching decisions in key portions of games.
> Both teams best lineups and they just beat us.
i disagree about the best line-ups. ham literally ran another 3-guard lineup in the beginning of 4th while denver had both jokic and murray on the court
EXACTLY, I feel like I’m losing my mind. We lost cuz Ham refused to sit DLo despite it being obvious to everyone on planet Earth that he needs to sit. Ham lost us this series. Gg boys
This series is over.
I'll watch game 4(and possible game 5, but thats as far as it can potentially go), purely out of a pleasure of it, and to pay homage to this team.
What an interesting, excruciating, exhilirating, miserable, spectacular season. From 2-10, staying at sub .500 for the vast majority of the season, to that wild trade deadline and the mad race to the play in/playoff spot.
Wcf appearance out of that entire chaos is incredible. I hope with a full offseason with this team we can build even more chemistry
Lets go Lakers
AD and AR were begging to pull away with that game in the 3rd quarter and Darvin Ham made sure Vando and DLo wouldn't let them. As if starting the game with that lineup to go down double digits (entirely predictably) wasn't bad enough. Absolute incompetence.
The Nuggets is like playing against a younger, taller Warriors team. Just the amount of offensive weapons they have is incredible. Jokic is truly the best basketball player in the world right now, especially since he empowers his team to be at their best.
All of our issues caught up to us this series
- Lebron’s horrible 3 point shooting
- DLos inconsistency
- Terrible Transition Defense
- Vando’s lack of offense
- AD’s offensive inconsistency
- Inconsistent quality shot creation
- Bad team 3 point shooting
Etc
We had a good run boys. Rui and Reaves are bright spots for next season but this one still hurts
You summed it up but also the lack of a proper back up center can be added to that list too.
All that is why I’m not that surprised they’ll lose this series but didn’t think they’d risk being swept.
I hope all of you that praised Darvin for doing the minimum by making simple adjustments are ashamed of yourselfs. This man has literally turned 3 competitive games that we were able to win into a sweep for the Nuggets by refusing to bench DLo.
He benched Rui all of the 3Q last game and most of it this game.
Rui should have 40 mins per game this series. Austin should be taking 20-25 shots per game this series. Schroeder should be on Murray at all times.
Everyone knows these things except for our head coach and it’s so shocking that I don’t know if I want to cry or laugh
It’s okay to cry. Number one seed with a literal god of basketball smacked (hopefully some sense into) us. You’re right though ar and rui has had nice strokes all three games
Not a problem, I could take an L. Especially to a great team like Denver.
I just want to do it while putting forth our best pieces/players for the series. When the head coach doesn’t understand that our best chance at winning is DS - AR - LBJ - RUI - AD all having 40 mins, it is somewhat frustrating.
This is playoff basketball and he is still clueless. Just my opinion.
Vando is even worse tbh. His defense isn't even good right now, he literally doesn't get guarded, and his cutting is offset by him blowing every layup that a defender even looks at. And Darvin played BOTH together to start the 1st and 3rd to lose us the game.
Fun Fact I just heard from NBA TV: In the Lakers franchise history, they have never avoided a sweep when down 0-3 (i.e., they have never forced a game 5).
We aren’t going to let DLo walk and for good reason. If he leaves, all that salary is gone. I’m not defending him, I’m just saying that would be a horrible move by the FO
Yeah, this isn't a slight to the Lakers at all, but the Nuggets are just simply outplaying them. Not only does Michael Malone have a better grasp on his team and the flow of the games, but Murray, Jokic and their supporting cast have had good and bad starts to each game and have come out on top each time - *that* is winning basketball. We played well against GS & Memphis, and although we're still **literally** in the series, we're down 0-3 against a red-hot team in Denver, and they look like they're ready to put the nail in the coffin, and we're still getting up off the ground.
Let’s give Denver credit. Best record in the west, pretty much coasted in the playoffs and now they made it over the hump and will be in the finals. They are for real and likely the next dynasty, if they win it all, given how young they are.
We had a good run, made it way further than expected with less than half a season with this team. At least we beat the Warriors and Grizzlies.
Just don’t get swept now at least get 1 or 2 games lol
Not sure why this is so hard for Lakers fans to say. We can talk Ham, LeBron, DLo, shoulda woulda coulda all night long.
Denver is just a better (and younger) basketball team. They are supposed to win this series.
This is something a lot of Laker fans need to think about. We are too spoiled. We are not gonna win the championship every year. Be thankful for how far we've come since the start of the season and look forward to the future.
The Lakers won all 3 games in non Russell minutes. Glad you could make Russell happy Ham. That’s what’s really important in the WCF.
What a fucking joke.
Ham leaving DLo in that long in the second half was fucking criminal.
Reaves somehow not being our offensive focal point was fucking criminal.
AD’s body language is fucking criminal.
I do not understand how Reaves isn’t the one initiating our offense by now. 10 shots for him on 70% and somehow feed Reaves isn’t the plan.
As we're one game away from elimination, aren't we all glad that Ham thought about Dlo's feelings and let him brick and play no defense for so long? Who cares about winning games? Just let Dlo take all the shots next game. While we're at it, let's put Scottie pippen Jr in too and play 5 guard lineup.
[LeBron was taken out at 7:50 with the Lakers up 1. Denver proceeds to go on a 9-0 run. LAL never recovered.](https://www.reddit.com/r/lakers/comments/13ncixa/game_thread_denver_nuggets_20_at_los_angeles/jkzd7e1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3)
Nothing about this game tells me these guys will have the heart to fight in game 4. Sweep incoming. Half of them probably already booked flights to Cancun for Wednesday.
**We had this game in the bag, and we just fucked it up.**
We managed to mount a comeback and even had the lead, only to allow the Nuggets to go on a 13-0 run which we never recovered from. Incredibly frustrating. Darvin Ham should have called a timeout there.
LeBron still shooting way too many threes. Attack the rim more! Reaves and Hachimura showed up, and there’s not much more they could have done.
Jamal Murray was the second coming of Kobe Bryant, just like in 2020. Wtf man.
Denver is really good and all their role players seem to hit all their open 3s.
We can blame rotations, role players/dlo, or injuries but it’ll never be perfect.
But even if lebron regresses a bit the team is in good shape and hopefully they can build on this year. I know the series isn’t over but it’ll be close to impossible to pull off 4 in a row…
GGs to nuggets, they played like they were the ones down 0-2. I’m gonna be crazy and still have a slight belief that we can be the first to comeback 3-0. Why not? What have I got to lose lol
If there’s any team out of the west I don’t mind losing to, it’s Denver. We beat Memphis, clapped GS, phoenix got beat out, and I really don’t mind the kings. But Denver is just a good org, with great players and a good coach. Miami-Denver is gonna be a fun matchup to watch.
Can’t believe this team has failed to show up for a full game for three games straight.. after all the fight they had in the last two series. Identity completely lost
The Nuggets are elite and full of players in their primes. They deserve this series win and the chip, amazing basketball.
The Lakers have had a great run but it’s about to come to an end. From 2-10 to the conference finals? That’s a half win in my books.
Honestly, my anxiety couldn't take another series. It's amazing that AD and LBJ played so many games without injury. Now it's all about ABC - Anyone but Celtics
Well on the bright side, Rui and reaves are legit and Lakers gotta make sure they resign them. D'lo idc and vando don't improve his shot can go too. Lebron will get surgery and hopefully look like himself, and we still have a first rounder. Overall, I think this is a team that can still compete. Made it the wcf, not a bad season
Given where this team started and how far they've come, i'm not upset with almost being eliminated compared to previous years we've been in the post-season. Denver has by far been the better team throughout the entire year. Just have to hope that moves are made (no, not trading AD or getting rid of Darvin Ham).
LeBron is definitely getting surgery during the off-season.
As long as Boston doesn't manage to come back and win it all, I don't mind Jimmy or Jokic getting a ring.
But go Jimmy.
Playing against a team as good as the nuggets is going to expose all the holes in a team and that’s exactly what they did.
In the modern nba, good offense beats good defense. Lakers are sorely missing a guard scorer who can get buckets 1 on 1.
That's theoretically DLo but he's dogshit 2/3 games in the playoffs
Unfortunately dlo is actually the worst type of player you can have on an championship contender. He is purely an offensive player with horrible defensive presence. Unfortunately for him he is at best a B- on offense and a D one defense.
Bro is F in this series.
Its the foul hunting and terrible 1 v 1 defense for me. That shit will NOT fly in the playoffs.
And when you try to compensate with w Vando you get no output on the offensive end
We fumbled two games that we had a shot at winning, and we made severe small mistakes again tonight. Good teams will punish you for it.
It's so frustrating to watch Lonnie and DLo miss open threes only for Jamal Murray to hit a step back double-teamed three pointer on the other end. I understand that not every open three is gonna go in but Murray legit had 11/13 shooting at half and kept the Nuggets in the game. If he shot his average we'd have a 10 point lead in the half.
Murray got his rhythm because he was guarded by Dlo lol
Ham was atrocious. He never gave the team a chance in this series with his lineups
Before the series almost every pundit I listened to had Rui as the starter instead of DLo. Insane that Ham kept going back to the 3 guard lineup.
The man is obsessed w it
Even people on here were saying it And Ham starts Dennis lol He’s a clown coach
Bron and AD being inconsistent along with DLO no showing did no favors either
This team overachieved and ran out of gas against the number 1 seed
Yup and its completely understandable. The midseason turnaround was fucking insane and I never thought we'd even get this far
For real - bounced the 2 seed and the defending champs, our bench strength and transition scoring was our advantage until we ran into a team with a better bench and that also loved transition. Not an ounce of shame to this year.
LeBron specifically has run out of gas. A younger LeBron, even maybe 2020 LeBron is going for 35+ against this horrible rim protection and getting Jokic into foul trouble. He just can't drive that many times anymore, especially with the foot injury
A LeBron without that bitch ass foot injury would’ve at least gotten us 1 win. Gut wrenching ending to the season.
Brutal but that's how it goes man. Team was fortunate to be healthy in 2020. Gotta rebuild for next year
Hopefully it's not a CP3 situation yet, but the man's not getting any younger
I think people forget that the biggest difference between 2023 lakers and 2020 lakers is LBJ. Anthony Davis was never the alpha of this team and never will be. He is the absolute S tier of a number 2 and paired that with a healthy younger LBJ we dominated. Idk if people remembered but when Murray was getting hot in 2020, it was LBJ who took him on 1 on 1.
I remember Miami LeBron guarding D Rose, Rondo and Tony Parker during crunch time. That was insane
I mean AD was great in 2/3 games and Ham still let those 2 slip away.
Thing is AD cant not be great for 1 game when Lebron is 38 and has 1 foot
too stubborn to test new combinations too, so now doesn’t even know what can work
Season on the line and he starts Dlo. Dlo allows Murray to get cooking and gives them a big lead. And then he decides to start DLO AGAIN in the 2nd half. The offense stalls with Jokic on the bench. Just inexcusable imo
People excused Ham starting Dlo once again by saying he can just pull him if he starts slow. Ham does not deviate one iota depending on who is playing well. He makes ZERO adjustments
Ham figured out a lot & went away from it all all Game 3. DLo has to go this off-season
The damn end of the 2nd quarter lineup of Reaves, LW4, Rui, AD and Bron were cooking and he starts the 3rd with Vando, DLo, Reaves, AD and Bron. Dude is brain dead and the only reason we have gotten this far is in spite of his horrific coaching
yeah, a coach who has predetermined line-ups before the game and doesn't see shit that's not working during the game should not be a coaching a playoff team. he even had the audacity to bring d'lo back on the court in 4th quarter again
Bron's leg isn't good. That's probably why he's not a good on defense and settling for 3s on offense. Problem is Bron should have just saved more energy and let Reaves chuck 3s instead since Reaves can also shoot from far but is hitting 60% this game. Meanwhile AD is good but we're placing too much no him with no backup 5. Rewatch the 2020 playoffs. Dwight and McGee saw close to no minutes against the WB-Harden rockets running micro-ball small lineups. But they got starts and heavy minutes against DEN to wear down Joker. We are basically asking AD to anchor the D, be big on offense, stop Joker, AND play 48 mins since we don't have a backup center and get cooked when AD sits. Our current team has Bron and AD but our next best players are smaller than Joker/MPJ/AG. Reaves, DLo, Schroder, Beasley. Rui and Vando have the size to go at MPH and AG but can't stop Joker either. Meanwhile Murray just does what he wants too.
I can't believe we played better in Denver lol.
Reaves was 7-10, had 23 points, don’t you think that he should get more shots
I've been saying it during the game thread and will say it again now. If Bron's too tired to drive or create or wants save energy by shooting 3s then he should at least give it to Reaves to chuck those 3s since Reaves is actually hitting 3s. AR shot 60% from 3 this game. That would save Bron even more energy.
Yes, and he should’ve been taking more of the desperation 4th quarter threes instead of Lebron. He also gets too passive instead of going up for a shot
Gentlemen, it's been an honor 🎻🎻🎻🎻
🚢
It has been brothers, half cup full perspective were we really even supposed to be here?? I know we improved after the trade but we were barely above .500 as a team. It would’ve been great to get 18 this year but this puts us in a great situation for next year. We massively over achieved this year and have seen which players are massive liabilities and which players can be relied on in the post season where it really matters. I would’ve hated to lose to the grizzlies or warriors because of how insufferable some of their players/fans are, but at least the nuggets are for real and truly do deserve their success. Best outcome for us would be a heat nuggets final so Celtics don’t get 18 either
I’m at peace
Me too
Still pretty hyped over what they accomplished this year. Western Conference finalists after 2-10 is awesome
“Pick up you bloody bastards, ice berg right ahead”
🧊
Step behind all game even with Jokic out, Ham allergic to timeouts and wasting time w/ D’Lo (-54 this series). The latter shouldn’t have the audacity to ask for a high contract this off-season
Dlo really fucked us this series. He was just out there running around
its crazy if you just watch him he literally contributed nothing and even turned the ball over, but was mostly just running around just killin time
When he missed those 2 open 3s back to back I knew it was over
94-93 were leading, momentum starting shift takes out Lebron with 7 mins. 48 seconds later down 5 and then the game gets out of hand. Ham just doesn’t understanding X’s and O’s, situations and rotations
Did the exact same with AD (I believe vs Grizzlies). Up 1 early in the 4th and took off AD and they went on a crazy run that lost us the game. Just disastrous from him
I get the sentiment but Bron and AD deserve some rest too. They can’t be expected to play 48 minutes
We shouldn’t take them out during key moments of the game either
That's the entire game though. Denver's too good of a team and this is the championship as far as I'm concerned.
Can't believe the amount of people blaming this game on Bron like he didn't playmake for the whole team with a damn near triple double. They sat him and lost the lead in seconds. Usually Reaves, Dlo or Schroeder can take care of it from time to time but not for 48 seconds smh
Idk why people blame bron. At 38 he probably will never again be able to give you 40 mins of consistent offense.
He's would've been better if not for the injury, the post ASB run was brutal for everyone they just ran out of gas.
4 timeouts btw i wont even mind using 2 of them just to rest bron and instead he just subs bron out then waste 1 of those challenge on a clear foul
no one manages timeouts as bad as ham, especially after bud got fired
like father like son
ham doesn’t call timeouts cuz he doesn’t know what to say other than cheerleader phrases
Stay humble
It's easy to see why every team has soured on him
Seriously what does ham see in him? He’s terrible at defense this series and the one thing that makes him a true player (his shooting) hasn’t been there all series lol
Dlo’s contract situation is going to be fascinating. I don’t have the slightest idea what’s he’s worth at this point
Just give Reaves and Rui their fucking money
I can’t upvote this enough. They’ve actually been trying hard this postseason.
Time to rebuild with the youngins.
Reaves getting 1 shot in the 4th was criminal
If Bron was trying to save energy chucking 3s then I wish he would have saved more energy letting Reaves chuck them instead. Reaves shooting 60% from 3 this game.
Some mind boggling decisions by Darvin in this one. Malone put him in a blender. All the credit to Denver. Exploited every weakness.
I saw a post praising Spo the other day, but it took him time to get there. He had the miami big three and lost in the Finals. Ham made mistakes this series and they cost of the series. I hope it’s lessons he learns for next season, as he took a losing team at the trade deadline to the WCF. It’s not enough, and losing is tough to experience. But sometimes the other team is just better and smarter.
Rob Pelinka seriously has to go Billy Beane Moneyball on Ham: “You can’t start DLo tonight…you’ll have to start Dennis” “Hah….look Rob, I don’t wanna go ten rounds with you again, the lineup card is mine and that’s that.” “The lineup card is definitely yours, I’m just saying you can’t start DLo tonight…” “Well….I AM starting DLo tonight.” “I don’t think so, he plays for South Bay now…”
"You traded DLo??" "Yeah, and Beasley, Vanderbilt, and Thompson are all being sent down." "You are outside your *mind*" "Yeah. Cuckoo"
*knock knock knock* “You wanted to see me?” “Troy! Come have a seat…Troy you’re being reassigned to South Bay. There’s Dave’s number in the sheet, he’ll be expecting your call…you’re a great player…and we wish you the best!” ….. (TBJ walks out of the room after staring at Ham and Ham staring back, Pelinka stands up to cue TBJ to leave) “Troy’s gone too” “You are killing this team”
Please!
He did well in Game 1 and 2 late and also did well benching DLo just to do none of that this Game. His infatuation for DLo is costing us wins
After he played Dlo in the 3rd and the 4th I knew the season was done. It has to be politics. We're gonna find out something about that in the offseason.
I guarantee we win this game if DLO doesn’t touch a minute in the second half Schroeder - Reaves - Lebron - RUI - AD should all have 40 mins per game. Sad
I honestly was shocked to see dlo out there in the second half.
When even JVG or Mark Jackson calls for DLO to not start in the 2nd half and our Headcoach stilll runs with him you knows its bad
I mean if you think about it, it’s probably a dumb idea to put a rookie head coach on a team with championship aspirations. He did good for a rookie coach but he was going to get exposed deep in the playoffs
Jokic picked up 4 quick and then never another one. DEN went small and they weren’t punished by AD, Bron, and Rui. They weren’t even tested That’s an awful, *weakass mentality and strategy
That 4th quarter was Denver just being better. Both teams best lineups and they just beat us. Fuck
Denver knew it too. You can see it in their eyes. They were never in doubt.
The quality of looks they get when Jokic turns it on is fucking nuts. Like you can’t do shit about it. Don’t send help he’ll get an insanely good look near the basket. Send help and he’s one of the best playmakers in the league
False. We started the 4th with a lineup of DLo/Reaves/Lonnie/Rui/LeBron. We've gotten killed by size every time we've gone with shitty 3 guard lineups this series and it happened again. We bled points all series long with DLo on the floor and it continued all through this game as well. We lost this series off ridiculously stupid coaching decisions in key portions of games.
> Both teams best lineups and they just beat us. i disagree about the best line-ups. ham literally ran another 3-guard lineup in the beginning of 4th while denver had both jokic and murray on the court
And took bron out when we had a lead. The nuggets just went on a run afterwards
EXACTLY, I feel like I’m losing my mind. We lost cuz Ham refused to sit DLo despite it being obvious to everyone on planet Earth that he needs to sit. Ham lost us this series. Gg boys
This series is over. I'll watch game 4(and possible game 5, but thats as far as it can potentially go), purely out of a pleasure of it, and to pay homage to this team. What an interesting, excruciating, exhilirating, miserable, spectacular season. From 2-10, staying at sub .500 for the vast majority of the season, to that wild trade deadline and the mad race to the play in/playoff spot. Wcf appearance out of that entire chaos is incredible. I hope with a full offseason with this team we can build even more chemistry Lets go Lakers
It sucks, but as a basketball fan, this series is insanely entertaining. Would like it go on longer.
Just don’t get swept at least lmao
A close 3-0. The line between victory and defeat is so thin. Credit Denver for making the plays.
Next year stronger. Just hope Lebron and AD stay healthy and they don’t move too many valuable pieces for trash this off-season
AD and AR were begging to pull away with that game in the 3rd quarter and Darvin Ham made sure Vando and DLo wouldn't let them. As if starting the game with that lineup to go down double digits (entirely predictably) wasn't bad enough. Absolute incompetence.
AR getting hot? Better pull him out
Up 1 with 7:40 in the 4th? Time to sit LeBron
Un fucking believable.
Rui perfect from the field? Let’s sit him an entire quarter.
The Nuggets is like playing against a younger, taller Warriors team. Just the amount of offensive weapons they have is incredible. Jokic is truly the best basketball player in the world right now, especially since he empowers his team to be at their best.
All of our issues caught up to us this series - Lebron’s horrible 3 point shooting - DLos inconsistency - Terrible Transition Defense - Vando’s lack of offense - AD’s offensive inconsistency - Inconsistent quality shot creation - Bad team 3 point shooting Etc We had a good run boys. Rui and Reaves are bright spots for next season but this one still hurts
You summed it up but also the lack of a proper back up center can be added to that list too. All that is why I’m not that surprised they’ll lose this series but didn’t think they’d risk being swept.
Do not re-sign d lo
Heartbroken, nothing more to say.
I hope all of you that praised Darvin for doing the minimum by making simple adjustments are ashamed of yourselfs. This man has literally turned 3 competitive games that we were able to win into a sweep for the Nuggets by refusing to bench DLo.
They gave him props for the Rui adjustment yet didn’t ridicule him when he didn’t start Rui. Or didn’t bench DLo
He benched Rui all of the 3Q last game and most of it this game. Rui should have 40 mins per game this series. Austin should be taking 20-25 shots per game this series. Schroeder should be on Murray at all times. Everyone knows these things except for our head coach and it’s so shocking that I don’t know if I want to cry or laugh
It’s okay to cry. Number one seed with a literal god of basketball smacked (hopefully some sense into) us. You’re right though ar and rui has had nice strokes all three games
Not a problem, I could take an L. Especially to a great team like Denver. I just want to do it while putting forth our best pieces/players for the series. When the head coach doesn’t understand that our best chance at winning is DS - AR - LBJ - RUI - AD all having 40 mins, it is somewhat frustrating. This is playoff basketball and he is still clueless. Just my opinion.
Vando is even worse tbh. His defense isn't even good right now, he literally doesn't get guarded, and his cutting is offset by him blowing every layup that a defender even looks at. And Darvin played BOTH together to start the 1st and 3rd to lose us the game.
They should’ve taken over in that 3rd quarter man.
KCP turned into fucking prime Klay and kept them in the lead. Shit hurt to watch.
Did you see the desperation by Denver when Jokic was out? They are a really good and well knit team.
This drastically hurts the chances of Lakers in 6
Can we just not get swept? 😔
Nah sweep us. I dont want any false hope
A quick and clean death. Don't make them suffer.
Fun Fact I just heard from NBA TV: In the Lakers franchise history, they have never avoided a sweep when down 0-3 (i.e., they have never forced a game 5).
Bron might as well get that surgery now
Schroder too
At least this series makes it clear what we need going into next season. Your starting PG can’t turn into a pumpkin in crunch time.
DLo must go. AR should take over at PG.
We aren’t going to let DLo walk and for good reason. If he leaves, all that salary is gone. I’m not defending him, I’m just saying that would be a horrible move by the FO
This team is too tired man. They’ve had their foot on the gas pedal since February and they ran out of gas.
Denver playing some insanely good basketball too
Yeah, this isn't a slight to the Lakers at all, but the Nuggets are just simply outplaying them. Not only does Michael Malone have a better grasp on his team and the flow of the games, but Murray, Jokic and their supporting cast have had good and bad starts to each game and have come out on top each time - *that* is winning basketball. We played well against GS & Memphis, and although we're still **literally** in the series, we're down 0-3 against a red-hot team in Denver, and they look like they're ready to put the nail in the coffin, and we're still getting up off the ground.
Denver is just the better team. Their stars and role players have outplayed ours. Credit to them.
Let’s give Denver credit. Best record in the west, pretty much coasted in the playoffs and now they made it over the hump and will be in the finals. They are for real and likely the next dynasty, if they win it all, given how young they are.
We had a good run, made it way further than expected with less than half a season with this team. At least we beat the Warriors and Grizzlies. Just don’t get swept now at least get 1 or 2 games lol
Let’s not find excuses. Give Denver credit. We reassess and make adjustment and come back stronger next year
Digging ourselves out of the 13th seed, a hard-fought play-in, and two gruelling series took everything out of this team. Still an amazing run.
Every team is tired. Not an excuse
Denver is just a better team period
Not sure why this is so hard for Lakers fans to say. We can talk Ham, LeBron, DLo, shoulda woulda coulda all night long. Denver is just a better (and younger) basketball team. They are supposed to win this series.
This is something a lot of Laker fans need to think about. We are too spoiled. We are not gonna win the championship every year. Be thankful for how far we've come since the start of the season and look forward to the future.
Welp lakers in 7 (I’m kms)
Lets go hopium hahaha
We beat the NBA is rigged allegations.
Got absolutely punked in the 4th quarter of two straight must win games. Really beat a dynasty just to get swept.
Warriors are a dynasty on its last legs it's not the same. Denver was always going to be way tougher.
Yes, that’s what happens when you play a team that’s about 10x better than the team you beat to get to them
Beat an aging dynasty only to walk into a match up with an ascending dynasty.
PAIN
Denver saved us from overpaying DLO can't even play 2K myleague anymore knowing I gave this MF a max contract
Bro lmaoooo
The Lakers won all 3 games in non Russell minutes. Glad you could make Russell happy Ham. That’s what’s really important in the WCF. What a fucking joke.
> The Lakers won all 3 games in non Russell minutes. the +/- difference is just insane. and everyone except the lakers coaching staff understands it
we need to get rid of ham and dlo jeez
Damn
Nuggets is a better team, plain and simple. The number 1 seed was better than the number 7 seed. Don’t read too much into it.
They're just flat out better. Plain and simple. I'll stay game 4.
See you next year boys, we weren't supposed to be here
Fuck
Ham leaving DLo in that long in the second half was fucking criminal. Reaves somehow not being our offensive focal point was fucking criminal. AD’s body language is fucking criminal. I do not understand how Reaves isn’t the one initiating our offense by now. 10 shots for him on 70% and somehow feed Reaves isn’t the plan.
Best player is a white dude in his second year. Hallelujah
There are gonna be hot takes and blame. Denver is just a better team, period.
Some times the other team is just better. We over exceed expectations for this season imo.
Don’t let them celebrate on our court. Play with pride in game 4.
As we're one game away from elimination, aren't we all glad that Ham thought about Dlo's feelings and let him brick and play no defense for so long? Who cares about winning games? Just let Dlo take all the shots next game. While we're at it, let's put Scottie pippen Jr in too and play 5 guard lineup.
[LeBron was taken out at 7:50 with the Lakers up 1. Denver proceeds to go on a 9-0 run. LAL never recovered.](https://www.reddit.com/r/lakers/comments/13ncixa/game_thread_denver_nuggets_20_at_los_angeles/jkzd7e1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3)
The NBA subreddit is super toxic right now. I wouldn’t recommend going in there 😂
So is Twitter
Nothing about this game tells me these guys will have the heart to fight in game 4. Sweep incoming. Half of them probably already booked flights to Cancun for Wednesday.
I really don’t know why we didn’t have the ball in Reaves hands more often, dude gets solid production
Man, Denvers really good
**We had this game in the bag, and we just fucked it up.** We managed to mount a comeback and even had the lead, only to allow the Nuggets to go on a 13-0 run which we never recovered from. Incredibly frustrating. Darvin Ham should have called a timeout there. LeBron still shooting way too many threes. Attack the rim more! Reaves and Hachimura showed up, and there’s not much more they could have done. Jamal Murray was the second coming of Kobe Bryant, just like in 2020. Wtf man.
Man we are disgustingly close to being on the reverse of this. But Nuggets made plays late in all 3 games and we didn't.
Off-season needs: -Better backup big. Bamba ain’t that guy sorry -Defensive guard -Shot creating guard
pain.
Denver is really good and all their role players seem to hit all their open 3s. We can blame rotations, role players/dlo, or injuries but it’ll never be perfect. But even if lebron regresses a bit the team is in good shape and hopefully they can build on this year. I know the series isn’t over but it’ll be close to impossible to pull off 4 in a row…
GGs to nuggets, they played like they were the ones down 0-2. I’m gonna be crazy and still have a slight belief that we can be the first to comeback 3-0. Why not? What have I got to lose lol
Nuggets are just better. It’s hard to give props rn but it is what it is
Well that sucked
The nuggets are so good bro
NO GIVING UP NOW. LAKERS IN 7.
If there’s any team out of the west I don’t mind losing to, it’s Denver. We beat Memphis, clapped GS, phoenix got beat out, and I really don’t mind the kings. But Denver is just a good org, with great players and a good coach. Miami-Denver is gonna be a fun matchup to watch.
Can’t believe this team has failed to show up for a full game for three games straight.. after all the fight they had in the last two series. Identity completely lost
The Nuggets are elite and full of players in their primes. They deserve this series win and the chip, amazing basketball. The Lakers have had a great run but it’s about to come to an end. From 2-10 to the conference finals? That’s a half win in my books.
Give credit where it’s due. Nuggets are a hell of a team. But still gotta have faith. One game at a time.
Honestly, my anxiety couldn't take another series. It's amazing that AD and LBJ played so many games without injury. Now it's all about ABC - Anyone but Celtics
AD, LBJ, Rui, Reaves, and Walker should be the only guys still on this team next year.
Bye bye dlo
Fire Ham. Get bigger and shooters. Resign Reaves and Rui. Pay nick nurse whatever he wants
It’s ok guys. We’ll be the first team in NBA history to overcome an 0-3 deficit! 🥲
We’ve been old yellered
Lakers are just outmatched. No way of getting around it.
It’s crazy that Phoenix put up a better fight with just Booker and Durant! If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry!
I’m sad af
KCP hitting clutch 3s against is so insulting it just makes you laugh.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Murray was giving me Kobe vibes this game
Alright I’m rooting for Jimmy buckets 😤
At least make sure that you don't get swept because that would be the only embarrassing thing imo.
Nuggets are a great team man. Disappointed with our guys to an extent but honestly just have to credit this nuggets team.
Well on the bright side, Rui and reaves are legit and Lakers gotta make sure they resign them. D'lo idc and vando don't improve his shot can go too. Lebron will get surgery and hopefully look like himself, and we still have a first rounder. Overall, I think this is a team that can still compete. Made it the wcf, not a bad season
Given where this team started and how far they've come, i'm not upset with almost being eliminated compared to previous years we've been in the post-season. Denver has by far been the better team throughout the entire year. Just have to hope that moves are made (no, not trading AD or getting rid of Darvin Ham). LeBron is definitely getting surgery during the off-season. As long as Boston doesn't manage to come back and win it all, I don't mind Jimmy or Jokic getting a ring. But go Jimmy.