DENVER — The Lakers know that no matter how their first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets goes, it can’t make up for being swept by the Nuggets in last year’s Western Conference finals.
Or the ensuing offseason trash talk from the series.
So they aren’t going into Saturday night’s series opener (5:30 p.m. PT tipoff) with vengeance on their minds.
“You can’t really get nothing back if you never had it, you know?,” All-Star big man Anthony Davis said after Friday’s practice at Ball Arena. “So our thing is focusing on Game 1. Obviously, last year was last year.
“We’re not – over the summer, obviously, it’s still fresh on our minds to get swept, Western Conference finals, hear what they’re saying, stuff like that. You hear it for the whole summer. So it kind of fuels you. But the season goes on. We had many more games. And now we’re focused on Game 1 and just trying to win Game 1 and then go from there.”
Lakers coach Darvin Ham echoed Davis’ sentiment.
“If you’re emotional about it, nothing is going to change about what happened in the past,” Ham said. “You just want them to be passionate about being here, being in this moment. The opportunity to play in the postseason is not a rite of passage by any means.
“We pulled things together at the right time to be able to have this moment against the defending champs. It’s about looking forward, going forward and being more passionate about competing.”
But for the seventh-seeded Lakers to advance beyond this series, they’ll need to address their previous struggles against the second-seeded Nuggets.
After sweeping them in last year’s conference finals, the Nuggets won all three matchups against the Lakers during the regular season.
The Nuggets consistently outexecuted the Lakers during crunch time in those games in a way that resembled last year’s playoff series.
The Nuggets’ plus-24.5 net rating in clutch situations during the regular season ranked first, with their 122.7 clutch offensive rating ranking third and 98.2 clutch defensive rating ranking second.
“We talked about it [Friday],” Davis said. “Over the past couple of days. But we really touched on it [Friday]. And we’ll see if it works. It hasn’t worked yet. But we did make a change in what we want to do late game, and we’ll see if they get to it [Saturday], then we’ll try what we worked on [Friday] and see if it works.”
The Lakers feel they’re in a better position to defend the Nuggets in the moments that mattered most compared to previous matchups.
“It’s twofold: guarding what they do better and not hurting ourselves by not doing the little things,” Ham said. “Whether it’s box out – we force a tough shot, they miss, they get the ball back. They miss, they get the ball back again. We don’t rotate to someone and we’re willing to live with the shot, but you still have to make people bad shooters by contesting the shot.
“And then offensively, knowing what we want to do. Not just any one man going out on an island. The intentions are good in that way where you want to go make something happen for your team, but we need all five guys on the court, have to know what they’re doing. They know that. And ultimately, valuing possessions, not turning the ball over.”
Game 1 – and ultimately the series – will test how much chemistry the Lakers have built over the 84 games they’ve played over the last seven months.
The Lakers spoke about how the Nuggets’ continuity was a significant advantage Denver had over them. The Lakers’ front office prioritized continuity last offseason, with the hopes it would help make them a better team.
Related Articles
The Audible: What’s better than playoff time in L.A.? (Maybe free chicken?)
Lakers vs. Nuggets: First-round scouting report, prediction
Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell stays even-keeled ahead of playoff rematch with Nuggets
Alexander: Lakers ignore hot-air merchants who suggested avoiding Nuggets
Lakers eager for playoff rematch with Nuggets
Now that will get put to the test.
“We’ve spoken about it a million times: their system and the way they go about what they do down the stretch, they don’t make mistakes,” guard Austin Reaves said. “It’s something that I’m sure everybody around the league watches and tries to replicate in their own way, to be that efficient in the fourth quarter.
“And that’s what we’ve tried to build ever since the summertime, just having this whole year of building that together has been really good for us. Last year, it was kind of more free-for-all because of, you know, brought in basically a whole new team at the trade deadline. But this year we’ve kind of got that opportunity to gel and to learn one another.”
LAKERS AT NUGGETS
What: Western Conference playoffs, first round, Game 1
When: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. PT
Where: Ball Arena, Denver
TV/Radio: ABC (Ch. 7), 710 AM