For the second consecutive year, the Los Angeles Lakers were sent home from the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets.
Like last year’s Western Conference Finals matchup, the Lakers had leads in every game but found ways to lose down the stretch against a Nuggets team that always seemingly had an answer.
Denver’s superstars in Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray came up huge in the closing minutes of Game 5, though LeBron James did his best to stave off elimination with several clutch baskets of his own.
However, now Los Angeles goes into the offseason needing to make some tweaks to the roster after they were shown how far they are from competing for a title.
While losing to the defending champions is nothing to be ashamed of, some fans have begun to run with the idea that the Lakers weren’t a good basketball team during the 2023-24 NBA season.
However, analysts like Adam Mares believe that that’s false and that L.A. should get more credit, via The Volume.
“I think the Lakers are better than people probably will give them credit for,” Mares said.
“I think the Lakers are better than people probably will give them credit for”
—@Adam_Mares gives his honest assessment of the Lakers’ season to @_JasonLT pic.twitter.com/dgEl1qlfcd
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) May 4, 2024
Losing in five games on its face might signal a team was overmatched, but the Lakers gave the Nuggets just about everything they could handle.
Had it not been for a Game 2 meltdown, Los Angeles might still be in the playoffs and fighting Denver in a Game 7.
Alas, that isn’t the case and the Lakers will need to go back to the drawing board and find the right pieces if they hope to overcome teams like the Nuggets.
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