What treat could possibly be better than one of the last two games on prime time television being a battle for supremacy in the West? The 40-12 Lakers and 38-16 Nuggets will gift NBA fans that very privilege, as the last game on the schedule before the All-Star break for both the Lakers and Nuggets takes place at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The Nuggets frontcourt, mainly led by the (debatable) best center in the NBA Nikola Jokic, will have to make way against the intimidating and physically imposing Lakers frontcourt, composed of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Throughout this season’s first half, very few, if any teams, have found the blueprint to topple the duo, and as they continue to beat their opponents with the best record in the West, they’ve looked more and more like the clear favorites to run away with the conference crown.
And it’s safe to say that, along with the rest of the NBA for that matter, these past two-to-three weeks have been pretty hard, since LeBron and his Laker teammates are still mourning the loss of their dear friend, Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. James has played hard in his old Team USA teammate’s honor, averaging a little under 24 points per contest while leading the league in assists where some prognosticate that James has been coasting in the waning moments of his most recent games. Davis, on the other hand, has been the lifeblood of this Lakers offense as a near walking double-double with his averaged 24.6 points per game and 8.6 rebounds in the five games they’ve played in the month of February.
But hold on. These Nuggets are nothing to fuss at. Jokic and Jamal Murray have been cooking the competition and it’s looking like Mike Malone’s squad has finally corrected those early-season idiosyncrasies that resulted in losses to begin the year. Specifically, both Jokic and Murray have looked like their counterparts just a season ago during Denver’s four-game winning streak. While Jokic has averaged 25.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 9.5 assists in his last four, Murray has averaged a head-turning 28.3 points and 5.3 assists himself, shooting 48.4 percent from deep.
Obviously, as we’ve come to know for years, playing inside the Pepsi Center is a clear advantage. Just playing any sport in a city/state that’s 5,280 feet above sea level is impairing enough to make any opponent’s game regress at the moment, but a Nuggets win in front of all of their loyal supporters is a huge accolade and confidence booster for a team that could very well be in the conference finals picture, and if it were to come against the team that leads the conference in wins? That’s even more incentive for Jokic and crew to give their all to get their 39th win of the year.
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