LeBron James, Lakers’ Defense Criticized by Twitter in Game 1 Loss vs. Nuggets

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The Denver Nuggets are seven wins away from their first NBA championship in franchise history.

It seemed like they were going to cruise to an easy victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Tuesday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at Ball Arena, but the Purple and Gold cut a 21-point deficit to as little as three in the final minute before falling short in a 132-126 defeat.

Denver is still undefeated at home in the postseason thanks to a brilliant effort from Nikola Jokić, who finished with a triple-double of 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists in a superstar showdown against Anthony Davis, who impressed as well with 40 points and 10 rebounds.

Yet it was the Lakers’ rebounding and defense that entered play No. 1 in the league during the playoffs, per NBA.com, that let them down and led to criticism on social media:

The Lakers couldn’t have scripted a worse start to the game.

Davis may be one of the best defensive bigs in the league, but he and the rest of the Lakers were no match for Jokić as Denver came flying out of the gates on the way to a commanding 18-point halftime lead.

The two-time MVP operated at full capacity with shooting touch, a spin move around Davis for a dunk, point guard-like passes as a facilitator and a relentlessness on the boards. The only time Los Angeles generated any early momentum was when it slowed the pace and looked to LeBron James for post-ups against smaller defenders.

It’s not as if Los Angeles played poorly on the offensive end. Rather, Davis got whatever he wanted, James overpowered defenders on the block and Rui Hachimura provided secondary scoring. But even momentum from a solid run could only do so much against Jokić, who casually tossed in a three from well beyond the arc at the third-quarter buzzer.

Throw in Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hitting from the outside and Bruce Brown providing a much-needed spark off the bench for a relatively thin team, and the Lakers had to play unstoppable offense just to keep pace.

And they did for extended stretches while closing the gap all the way to three. They got to the free-throw line, Austin Reaves hit from deep, and the Davis and James combination remained dialed in until the end when the King missed a triple to tie it up in the final minute.

If the offense remains at that level and the defense improves, Los Angeles could steal Thursday’s Game 2 in Denver.