This has been more than a bad matchup; it’s been nearly a guarantee.
After being swept in the 2023 NBA Western Conference finals, the Lakers added size and muscle while building around an existing core to try and match the Nuggets a season later.
Those changes ended up mattering so little, Denver winning all four regular-season meetings and losing just once in the first-round playoff series between the teams.
That defeat led to the Lakers making another change, this one on the sidelines, with JJ Redick replacing Darvin Ham as coach.
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And entering Saturday’s game with Denver, the first of the season, the Lakers looked like a team that had righted some of its organizational wrongs.
They would, undoubtedly, be more prepared for what Denver was going to throw at them, a concern players voiced privately a year ago. They would, undoubtedly, play with confidence despite a ghastly late-game loss to Orlando on Thursday after a barrage of missed free throws in the final minutes.
They were getting a starter, Rui Hachimura, back, and the Nuggets would again be without one of theirs, Aaron Gordon.
And, because Denver played Friday night, the Lakers would be the more energetic team with everything to prove against a foe that has just dominated them.
Too much had changed for it to somehow remain the same. Right?
But as Anthony Davis slumped down after missing a floater of Nikola Jokic during a disastrous third quarter, and the Nuggets raced back up the floor, the stench of familiarity filled the Lakers’ home arena.
Everyone was right to be concerned as the Lakers looked lifeless — the Nuggets were on a roll in a 127-102 win and the Lakers, of all teams, sure weren’t going to be the ones to stop them.
Russell Westbrook, who entered the game to boos off the Denver bench, walked the Lakers’ starters off the court to the same noise after his three-pointer put the Nuggets up 26 with 4:23 left. The shot sent the Lakers’ starters to the bench.
The Davis miss came after one of Denver’s 18 turnovers — the Lakers managed to score just 18 points off those mistakes. They were critical missed opportunities, chances the Lakers needed to take advantage of to beat a team that has their number.
Instead, they missed shots and stalled offensively, the Nuggets making sure each Lakers mistake ended with pain.
Denver scored 31 points on 15 Lakers turnovers.
Jokic, as usual, was the best player on the floor, scoring 34 points to go with 13 rebounds and eight assists. Davis, clearly bothered by the reigning MVP, scored just 14 — one of his worst games this season.
Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 19 points, but Denver made sure only one stat ended up mattering — they outscored the Lakers 70-39 in the second half.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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