Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. We are in the conference finals!
The Western Conference will be represented by the Los Angeles Lakers.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Los Angeles Lakers.)
Well, we learned some things in this series.
The first is that, on any given day, LeBron James can still be that dominant force in the NBA. You see his line: 38 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists.
But you should’ve watched him tear the Nuggets apart in the closing minutes. Let’s give the Denver Nuggets credit, though. Those guys are the epitome of never giving up (cue John Cena; DA DA DA DA!). Even with Jamal Murray clearly hurting, they had guys like Jerami Grant (20 points, 9 boards), Monte Morris (10 points, 7 assists), and, of course, Nikola Jokic (20-7-5) doing their damnedest to keep Denver alive in the series. Just like they did against the Jazz. And just like they did against the Clippers.
Neither of those teams, however, have LeBron James. It’s nice to have Donovan Mitchell but he’s young yet and probably needs a second scoring option. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are a terrific duo but George doesn’t seem to get it done in huge games and maybe Kawhi needs to assert himself even more as a vocal leader.
The Nuggets, in their usual fare, cut the 16-point deficit to actually TIE the game near the end of the third. But another thing we’ve learned in this series? Anthony Davis comes up big when they need a bucket. We know the game-winner from Game 2, obviously. But his three before the third ended gave the Lakers the lead back. It stopped the momentum for Denver and maybe the series gets extended if the Nuggets came into the fourth tied and brimming with confidence.
Anyway, we were talking about LeBron. The Lakers were holding on to a precarious 103-99 lead with four minutes and change left. Then LeBron took over. He found the much-maligned Danny Green (at least, the bubble version of himself is much-maligned) for a huge three. Then LeBron shut the door on Denver. Early on, he was dominating them in the paint, posting up or driving in for lay-ups. Then he went to the perimeter and threw down fireballs that left the Nuggets wondering what hit them. LeBron scored 9 in a decisive 12-4 run. That makes him president of Denver now or whatever just like when he took over the presidency of Canada a few years ago.
(Shut up. I know there’s no such thing. I’m just trying to be funny.)
So we didn’t get to see a 3-1 series comeback from Denver. But what we did see in Denver is that they are a REALLY good team. Nikola Jokic is what we get as the center continues to evolve in basketball. He can do everything from posting up to no-look passes (whaddup!) to perimeter shooting. Back then, centers were pigeonholed to just rebounding and scoring inside. And Jamal Murray became a STAR in these playoffs. He ran out of gas and hurt his knee towards the end of the series but what he did in this postseason was have many big games to save Denver from elimination. I really hope he continues to carry that momentum into next season.
But this year, it’s about the Lakers returning to their first NBA Finals in a decade. And it’s also LeBron’s 10th NBA Finals (9 of the last 10 seasons). Unbelievable. What a career he’s had. And to close out Denver like that at age 35 and his 17th season? Madness.
The Lakers and their fans will celebrate this Western Conference title. But of course, they’re not done. In the meantime, they await either an old rival in the Celtics or a new opponent that should’ve materialized maybe 9 years ago in the Heat.
Bullet Passes
So if the Lakers and Celtics meet, it would be their 13th meeting in the Finals. Their most recent meeting was a 7-game slugfest in 2010 that saw the Lakers come out on top in Staples Center. It is the last time the Lakers won the NBA championship.
As mentioned, Lakers and Heat have never met in the Finals. However, Laker coach Frank Vogel would see an old rival in Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. They’ve met three times in the playoffs and Miami won all of them. But the difference this time around? Vogel would now have LeBron James.
The Lakers are going for their 17th NBA championship. That would tie the Boston Celtics for most championships by an NBA franchise. The Lakers won 5 in Minneapolis and 11 in Los Angeles.
Here’s something fun about LeBron:
Mike Brown, Erik Spoelstra, David Blatt, Tyronn Lue, and now Frank Vogel. https://t.co/m3DJgKodzw
— ᴿᵉʸ⁻ᴿᵉʸ🤞🏾✌🏾 (@TheNoLookPass) September 27, 2020
NBA Playoff Scoreboard
Game 5: #1 LAL 117 vs #3 DEN 107 (LAL wins series, 4-1)
Watch This Play
Anthony Davis says NO to Michael Porter, Jr.‘s dunk attempt. I think that’s a dunk attempt.
🗣FIRST TEAM ALL-DEFENSE
(📺: TNT) pic.twitter.com/qQQCsoHB1w
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) September 27, 2020
Now one-half of the NBA Finals is set! Who will join the Lakers?
Please take care, everyone.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.