Los Angeles Lakers: Takeaways from first preseason game vs Denver Nuggets
By Ronald Agers
3. Who’s playing the four and five on the back line?
"Positionless basketball is nice to talk about, but the NBA is about matchups. The Nuggets have a advantage already on the backline on offense and defense with Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic. It will be interesting to see how the Lakers deal with these two. Millsap is a player folks. Denver would have been a higher seed last year, if Millsap doesn’t get injured. He’s a strong low post player that can make plays for his teammates. Jokic has gotten better every year and he is prepped to make major noise. Lakers fans will have a good idea on what will happen by way of rim protection and low post defense by seeing how these two are handled."
Aftermath…
Look, I was on Twitter looking for a long-term deal the way JaVale McGee was playing. He finished with 17 points and seven rebounds with a lot of dunks. He provided energy down low and did exactly what the Lakers brought him in for…
But…
The Lakers got massacred down low. Nikola Jokic was killing the Lakers down low until he got tired in the second half. JaVale McGee outran Jokic down the floor and wore him out. That will be the only way the Lakers big men are going to survive.
The Nuggets destroyed the Lakers on the boards 50 to 37. The killer? The 13 offensive rebounds that gave the Nuggets extra possessions. The Lakers cannot run if they don’t secure the rebound.
Finally…Juan Hernangomez looked like Dirk Nowitzki at times, scoring 19 points including five threes. The Lakers cannot allow an opposing team’s power forward to come off the bench and put up those type of numbers. Can’t happen.