5 Increasingly promising reasons to believe Lakers can dethrone Nuggets

5. The underdog factor

This is without a doubt the biggest reason the Lakers may actually have a chance of taking down the champs this time around. Last May, the conversation around the top-seeded Nuggets was an interesting one. Though they had held the best record in the Western Conference for months, many doubted whether they should even be considered a true championship contender.

We had seen them fall short of making the conference finals the previous two years, albeit with Jamal Murray sitting on the sideline hampered by injury. As a result, there was a lot of question surrounding if they would even make it past the Phoenix Suns in the second round.

So of course when they did reach the West Finals to face the Lakers, many were skeptical. After all, LA was riding high and looked like the hottest team left in the playoffs. History favored the Lakers, and it seemed almost an inevitability that Denver's run would end. We all know what happened next.

But this time, the tables are very much turned. The Nuggets are the heavy favorite, and no one really expects LA to put up much of a fight. But in basketball as with anything, you can be most dangerous when everyone is counting you out and writing you off. The Lakers can use the fact that no one is considering them a serious threat as motivation to stun the world.