Lakers-Nuggets: 5 takeaways from triumphant ring night in Denver

Nikola Jokic gets a special message from Shaq live on Inside The NBA.

DENVER — There was lots of heavy lifting Tuesday by the Denver Nuggets when defense of their 2022-23 title officially turned real.

They hoisted the championship rings in the air to show the sparkle, then elevated the banner to the rafters before tipoff, and 48 minutes later raised hopes for a repeat.

An opening night win is such a small sample size for a season that lasts until June for championship winners. But the journey starts somewhere, and what better way for the Nuggets than to accomplish this against the Los Angeles Lakers?

It was a thoroughly enjoyable and energetic night inside Ball Arena, then. The Nuggets beat the team they swept out of the 2023 Western Conference Finals, saw more of the same brilliance from Nikola Jokic and put the league on alert (in case anyone forgot).

Here are five takeaways from the Nuggets’ 119-107 win, including why, with one minute remaining and the outcome secured, the home fans sent the Lakers home with a trolling serenade.

1. No joke: Nikola Jokic still lords over the Lakers

He chopped them up last spring in the playoffs and owned them in the opener. Not that the Lakers should take this personally — Jokic does this to everyone — but this is a problem.

That’s because the Lakers threw Anthony Davis, one of the league’s better and more versatile defenders, in his path all night and it didn’t matter. Jokic had a 29-13-11 triple-double in what amounts to an ongoing flex.

Until further notice, the Denver center and former two-time Kia NBA MVP remains the most formidable player in the West, if not the league. Any championship most likely must travel through him and it won’t be easy. Any notion of Jokic’s basketball-free summer leading to rust was dismissed when he dropped finger rolls, 3-pointers and cleaned the glass Tuesday.

There were solid performances from Jamal Murray (21 points) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (20), but Game 1 was about Jokic. When he sat in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets saw a lead that was once 18 points fall to four. This was “The Joker” re-inserting, or rather, keeping, himself in the MVP conversation.

2. Mild counterpunch (and minutes) by LeBron James

In the days leading up to the game, James gave the impression that the Nuggets were far too boastful (more on this below) and how he’d have something to say on the floor.

Welp. Strangely enough, even though he led the Lakers with 21 points, James didn’t cause any damage, never helped the Lakers claim a second-half lead. And there were some queasy moments. His first 3-point attempt hit the side of the backboard. He had his shot blocked by Christian Braun. And he stumbled after having his foot stepped on by Reggie Jackson on a corner 3-pointer.

More curiously, LeBron played only 29 minutes, and this seems to be the blueprint for now with a player who turns 39 in December. The Lakers and coach Darvin Ham are thinking long-term, especially with the new rules discouraging load management.

“I mean, I always want to be on the floor, especially when you got an opportunity to win a game or feel you can make an impact but I guess there’s a system in place and I’m going to follow it,” James said.

Therefore, Year 21 began with a whimper, not a statement. At some point he’ll regress, hard as it might be to believe, because everyone (even Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, etc.) does. Is this the year?

3. The “Sons” play in Phoenix, right?

Just to rub it in, Nuggets fans chanted “Who’s your daddy?” obviously intended as support for coach Michael Malone’s zinger to a Lakers team the Nuggets have now beaten in five straight games dating back to the 2023 West finals.

But it went deeper than that. Earlier this month, Davis said “me and LeBron had some conversations” about the Nuggets’ championship parade and “we can’t wait” for Tuesday.

Well, the whole non-troversy regarding perceived Laker hate from the Nuggets is rooted in last season’s sweep. Malone was irked that all the sports debate shows he evidently watches were discussing the Lakers too much.

During the Finals, Malone said: “If anybody is still talking about the Lakers, that’s on them. They’ve gone fishing.”

None of that talk was particularly trashy. But athletes need motivational material, either real or created, so that became a battle cry within the Lakers. But the target date — ring night — had no sizzle. And the Lakers are still fishing … for answers, on how to beat the Nuggets.

4. The Lakers have a depth ‘problem’

No general manager worked harder from February until now than Rob Pelinka. He changed the rotation with a handful of trades, signings and Draft picks. As a result, the Lakers go at least 10 deep.

But who deserves to play? The Lakers are still sorting all the new bodies out. There are 81 games to find a rotation, but Ham has his hands and clipboard full. Players who received extensions or contracts include: Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes. Big man Jarred Vanderbilt got an extension, too, but he was an injury scratch Tuesday.

The bad news? None made a difference vs. Denver and most were faulty. There will be better nights ahead for Vincent (3-for-8 shooting, minus-17 overall) and others, and it better be for the Lakers’ sake. They need depth in L.A. to ease the workload on James and Davis to keep them fresh and healthy.

5. Ring in the new season

The true dynasty in the NBA? That’s Jason of Beverly Hills, the jeweler who once again created the championship ring, now totaling five of the last six. The Nuggets’ ring is particularly “rocky,” loaded with all the bling and gold, naturally, to reflect the city and what made it famous more than a century ago.

There’s also a compartment that pulls out and displays the championship banner, keeping in line with Jason making the rings multi-dimensional.

It wasn’t too long ago when NBA championship rings looked like class rings. That changed gradually, and the Warriors, whose rings were also done by Jason, took it to the next level several years ago.

The Nuggets raved about their rings.

“Amazing,” said Murray.

But about the pregame ceremony, Jokic, true to his nature, shrugged.

“I had to do another warmup,” he said.

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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