Inside The Nuggets

Denver Nuggets NBA Champion Makes Unexpected Lakers Statement

The Nuggets ran out of gas in the 2024 NBA Playoffs

Joey Linn

May 20, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) celebrates with forward Aaron Gordon (50) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) during game three of the Western Conference Finals for the 2023 NBA playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.
May 20, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) celebrates with forward Aaron Gordon (50) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) during game three of the Western Conference Finals for the 2023 NBA playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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The Denver Nuggets have dominated the Los Angeles Lakers the last several seasons. Eliminating the Lakers in consecutive postseasons, the Nuggets have gone 13-3 against Los Angeles the last two seasons including both the regular season and postseason.

Defeating the Lakers in five games in last year's opening round of the Western Conference Playoffs, the Nuggets followed a similar script almost every game. Getting down early, the Nuggets would hang around and dominate the game late. This is something the Nuggets made look easy, but according to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they felt they should have lost to the Lakers in that series.

During a new episode of The Draymond Green show, Caldwell-Pope admitted the Nuggets were tired during the playoffs, saying, "We get to the playoffs, we had no gas. We felt like the Lakers should have beat us. We was down every game."

As Caldwell-Pope explained, the Nuggets used a lot of energy towards the end of the regular season trying to secure the first seed. In a three-team race for that top spot with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder, the Nuggets were not able to rest at any point down the stretch of the regular season, which Caldwell-Pope believes impacted their playoff performance.

While the Nuggets were not the best version of themselves in the playoffs, they still had enough to beat the Lakers. Nikola Jokic was dominant that series, Jamal Murray had two game winners, and Michael Porter Jr. turned in an incredible shooting performance.

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Joey Linn

JOEY LINN

Title: Credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation Email: joeylinn52@gmail.com Education: Communication Studies degree from Biola University Location: Los Angeles, California Expertise: NBA analysis and reporting Experience: Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time across multiple platforms, primarily serving as a credentialed Clippers beat writer.

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