Is it over?

Aloha,

If one were to believe everything being written about this series, you would believe that the Lakers have been terrible and they have no chance. While there are plenty of reasons to be concerned, the Nuggets should be a little concerned as well.

Game one the Joker had a game for the ages. One of the best playoff performances I have ever seen. And Murray chipped in with 31 points himself. Yet they barely hung on to win at home.

The next game it took Murray going crazy in the 4th in a game they were out played for 3 quarters to pull out. Again at home. Considering that both AD and LeBron played poorly, this should be of concern for the Nuggets as well.

The Nuggets are by far better than our previous opponents but we were only 2 and 4 on the road coming into this series. While I don’t know if we can get by the Nuggets I’m not ready to say it’s over either. While the Nuggets pose challenges that our first two series didn’t we pose challenges for the Nuggets as well.

First the Nuggets have no rim protection. They have been vulnerable defensively all year to teams that attack the rim. This is what the Lakers do. We are one of the best teams at attacking the rim.

Our defense showed up in the 2nd half of game one and has been there ever since. They have not faced a team with a rim protector like AD. With his mobility he is much more of a challenge than Gorbet was.

I think a problem for the Lakers have been fatigue. Focus is a casualty of fatigue and we have lost 2 games do to losing focus. One can say both teams played the same amount of games but there are big differences. The Lakers have been in the playoffs since the trade deadline. While the Nuggets wrapped things up early and started resting guys in March. They lost 7 of their last 9 and one of the wins came when their bench beat the Kings bench. We had to fight like hell to get into the play in.

I think we need to play LeBron and AD less than the 40 minutes they have been playing, especially LeBron. Rui has been sensational. He played 28 and 30 minutes so far. To me it doesn’t matter if he starts or comes off the bench but give him 5 of lebron’s minutes. He’s young, play him 35 minutes at least.

Giving AD more rest is trickier but I think it can be done. Even if it means bringing in Thompson for a few minutes here and there. I’m not sure if Bamba is ready yet. If he is he could help here. I am not a big Bamba supporter and he would get slaughtered by the Joker. But if you put him in a deep drop while Rui or LeBron bang on the Joker he could roam like we have had AD doing at times. Again we are talking only a few minutes here.

In the end we need to just do a little better. LeBron doesn’t need to be great, just good. DLO doesn’t need to explode, just put up 17 or so like he’s done multiple times in the playoffs. Dennis needs to be a little more aggressive attacking the rim. AD doesn’t need 40. 28 to 30 is enough if a few guys are adding a few more points.

I will not be surprised if the Nuggets win it all. But I’m not counting the Lakers out yet. We have taken both games down to the wire and we haven’t even played that well yet. The Nuggets are not a good defensive team. If we play smarter on offense and our defense holds up, we can get back into this series.