Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James and Anthony Davis must attack Denver

Kevin’s second key: the Los Angeles Lakers running on the Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are the third slowest-paced team in the NBA. The reason for this is Denver runs their offense through star center Nikola Jokic, who likes to either initiate offense by bringing the ball up the court or by posting up on the block.

If Nikola Jokic is the NBA’s version of the Joker, then Jamal Murray is Gaggy, who was the Joker’s right-hand man in the Batman comics. Murray, like Gaggy, is very quick but his game is also better suited in the half-court.

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The Lakers need to speed up the tempo of the game to not only maximize their strengths but to also exploit Denver’s main weakness on defense: fast break points allowed per game, of which Denver ranks in the bottom ten. Traditional centers like Jokic are less effective as the game gets faster, whereas LeBron and AD are unstoppable in transition.

LeBron James is a cyborg. If the Lakers can run in the Pepsi Center, Denver’s players will be the ones gasping for air. After all, LeBron wears an altitude training mask so he will be used to the thin air in Denver.

However, nothing can mask the fact the Lakers’ struggles in defending the paint. Look for Denver to exploit the Lakers’ 26th-ranked interior defense. Denver’s emphasis on attacking the basket requires all Lakers guards to guard the ball like the game depends on it.