![]() That set the stage is set for the Conference Finals. the Jazz and Clippers despite falling behind 3-1 to start each. “Lakers in 5” was the running theme for the 2020 Lakers as they beat the Trail Blazers and Rockets, while the Nuggets were the kings of seven-game comebacks, winning their prior two series vs. The Nugget series would go seven games, and while the Lakers won, they were just too out of gas, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round. young legs were a harbinger of how they would lose in the next round. The series was closer than it had any right to be, but the Lakers’ struggles vs. Most of those were not great enough to make it further than the semifinals. The Lakers meanwhile had Mike Brown as a head coach and were running the Princeton offense, with Darvin Ham as an assistant coach on his staff.Īnyway, the championship core from 2010 was traded away and simply just mismanaged, while Kobe was on his last legs and putting everything on his back, and the only players remaining from that 2010 title core were Bryant, Bynum, Derek Fisher, Gasol, Luke Walton and Metta World Peace. This was the sixth-seeded Nuggets against the three-seeded Lakers, a young and rebuilding group featuring two bench centers that would eventually become Lakers. This series is close chronologically, but also far removed from the Melo era, as he went to the Knicks. This would be a running theme for this series. Game 1 started with an offensive flurry, with Carmelo Anthony scoring 39 and Kobe getting 40, but what I remember this game for was the steal by Ariza to secure the win. And it was, but the Lakers still won in six. It was looking to be a more competitive series than last year's sweep. The focus of the offense was still Carmelo Anthony with a more defensive point guard in Billups, but one who could also score as well. With a returning Andrew Bynum and a newcomer in Trevor Ariza joining with Kobe, Pau and Lamar Odom, the Lakers were primed to make a title run, but first they’d have to go through the new-look Nuggets, with Allen Iverson traded to the Pistons for Chauncey Billups and some added size with Chris Anderson. The 2008 Lakers would go on to the NBA Finals, but lose to the Celtics. This was just the start of the Lakers vs. Game 4 was close, but the Lakers ultimately secured a sweep. the Rockets and Spurs, early on in the season. They only scored less than 84 points total in two games in the regular season, vs. ![]() Game 3 was another blowout, with the Nuggets only scoring 84 points. He scored 49 points and 10 assists in the victory. ![]() Pau Gasol, meanwhile, had a huge game 1 with 36 points, 8 assists, 16 rebounds and three blocks. Nobody was hurt, and it didn't really seem to affect the Nuggets that much because Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony scored 30 each in Game 1. In Game 1, the Nuggets almost didn't make it to the Staples Center on time as there was a fire on their team bus on the way to the arena. Carmelo Anthony, a series of fires on and off the court, offensive juggernauts and duos. Now we’re in a totally different era from the first three playoff matchups between these two teams. In 1987, the first round was a best-of-five series, and the Lakers swept the Nuggets in three games, winning two of the games in blowout fashion. This time the Lakers were the first seed, and the Nuggets were the eighth seed. Once again the Lakers and Nuggets faced each other in the first round. Despite the great individual efforts by English, however, the Lakers won two of the three games he was available in before going on to win the NBA championship versus the Celtics in six games. Alex English played extremely well for the Nuggets for three games, but was hurt and missed the final two. In a best-of-seven series in the Western Conference Finals, the top-seeded Lakers beat the second-seeded Nuggets in 5 games. lost in the semi-finals versus the eventual 1979 champions the Seattle SuperSonics, the final Sonics (and eventually Thunder) championship at the time of this writing. ![]() However, it was the continued scoring of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jamal Wilkes and Adrian Dantley - who each had at least 23 points - that allowed the Lakers to win the series 2-1. The Nuggets all had their starters score in double figures, with David Thompson leading the way with 28 points. After the Nuggets won Game 1 and the Lakers took Game 2, it set up a pivotal Game 3 in Denver - this is the only time the Nuggets had ever previously had homecourt advantage against the Lakers. In 1979, the first-round of the playoffs was a best-of-three series. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets have faced each other seven times in the NBA playoffs, dating all the way back to 1979.Īhead of their upcoming eighth showdown in 2023, let's look back at those prior playoff series.
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