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

Kevin’s third key: Los Angeles Lakers defenders guarding Jamal Murray straight up  

Look for Denver to run the offense through Jamal Murray. Jokic struggled against Marc Gasol and other Lakers big men in the last game, as he did against Utah’s Rudy Gobert. For whatever reason, Jokic always seems to struggle against other European centers.

Murray gets to be the go-to scorer again, similar to how he took over during the Utah series in the bubble. Expect Denver to target Marc Gasol via the Murray-Jokic pick-and-roll. Gasol is struggling with not only protecting the paint but also staying in front of opposing guards in drop coverage on the pick-and-roll.

Dennis Schroder or whoever else guards Murray has to be able to not only go over the screens but also recover in time to cut off Murray’s drive to the basket. Gasol and the other Lakers big men have to stay home on Jokic so the only help is coming from the defenders in the corners.

If the wing defenders stay home, Murray gets an open shot. If they converge on Murray, someone else is getting a wide-open three-pointer or driving lane.

Look at pick-and-roll defense as a race to the elbow. If Murray gets there first, Denver wins. If the Lakers defender can cut off Murray first, Denver loses.

Murray will end up either passing the ball to Jokic at the other elbow or hoisting up a late-in-the-shot-clock heave, which goes in more often than it should.

Also, if Jamal Murray sits, Denver’s backup point guard Monte Morris has done extremely well against the Lakers. Morris is a major factor for Denver coming off the bench.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, the Lakers are the best team in the NBA. As Denver’s legendary columnist Woody Paige put it, fans often see too far in the forest to see the trees. The Los Angeles Lakers can run the Denver Nuggets out of the gym if they so choose.

They just have to do it.