The Los Angeles Lakers have had a hard time with the Denver Nuggets.
Mike Malone’s team has beaten them eight times in a row, and that includes a humiliating four-game sweep in the Western Conference Finals last season.
Overall, the Nuggets have won 10 of their last 12 matchups, and while the Lakers have managed to stay in those games and be competitive, they just can’t crack the code.
That’s why, as controversial as it may seem, Mike Greenberg believes they should tank their Play-In Tournament game vs. the New Orleans Pelicans.
Talking on Get Up, he made a case for the Lakers to rest LeBron James and Anthony Davis, lose on purpose, and try their luck against the Oklahoma City Thunder instead.
“[The Lakers] should not play LeBron, they should not play AD, they do not want to be the seven-seed.”
—@Espngreeny on the Lakers vs. Pelicans pic.twitter.com/bZeYneZfyc
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 15, 2024
That makes perfect sense, as coach Malone has exposed Darvin Ham over and over, but it might not be in their best interests right now.
The Lakers would put themselves against the wall by doing that, as they would have to go against the Sacramento Kings or Golden State Warriors in a win-or-go-home scenario for the No. 8 seed.
The Warriors have also had their number this season, and they’ve proven that they cannot be trusted to find consistency on a night-to-night basis, so there’s just too much at stake.
The Lakers will have no choice but to try and compete and put an end to the Nuggets’ supremacy over them.
And while that doesn’t seem likely at this point, they just can’t risk ducking the Nuggets and then still missing the playoffs.
NEXT:
LeBron James Has Strong Message About Lakers’ Regular Season Performance
