2. Maintain First-Rate Defense
The Los Angeles Lakers have had the best defense in the Western Conference throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs, holding two high-scoring opponents to just 105 points per game. They will need to continue to demonstrate that outstanding team defense against a very talented Nuggets team.
Denver is led by Nicola Jokic, who is probably the best all-around offensive center in the NBA. For the past two regular seasons, he’s averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. In this year’s playoffs, he’s raised his scoring average to over 25 per game while hitting 44% of his three-point attempts, well above his career average of 34%. He’s also been called the best-passing big man in league history.
Against Houston, Vogel benched big men JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard to better defend the Rockets’ smaller lineup. But he will probably return to the Lakers normal line-up and start out with McGee defending Jokic. Howard, Morris and Davis will all also take turns trying to limit the Nuggets center.
They achieved some degree of success in the four regular-season contests when they held Jokic to just 16 PPG. But with Jokic now playing at his highest level ever, they will need a strong team effort to keep him at bay.
Denver’s other star is point guard Jamal Murray, who is averaging 27 points per game in the postseason while shooting 50% from the field and 49% from beyond the arc. He scored 50 points twice against Utah in the first round and went off for 40 in game seven against the Clippers.
Murray’s biggest problem at this point in his career is his game-to-game inconsistency. Twice in these playoffs, he scored just 12 points and in two other games scored just 14.
By now, the Lakers are accustomed to defending high-scoring backcourt stars. In round one they had to face Damian Lillard, who averaged 30 points in the regular season. They were able to hold him to only 24 PPG on just 41% shooting, down from 46%.
Against Houston, they had to defend against the league’s leading scorer, James Harden. In the regular season, he scored 34 points, taking 22 shots per game, including 12 three-point tries. The Lakers held Harden to 29 PPG on 17 shots and only 7 long-distance attempts.
The Lakers also had excellent success guarding Harden’s teammate Russell Westbrook, who averaged 27 points on 47% shooting during the season. Against the Lakers, Russ scored 20 PPG and shot just 43%.
Jokic and Murray are backed by a good supporting cast, particularly rookie Michael Porter Jr. and veteran Paul Millsap. But if the Lakers can limit the effectiveness of both Jokic and Murray, Denver will be hard-pressed to win the series.