The NBA Playoffs are set to begin on Saturday, April 20 as 16 teams in the NBA will fight to win the championship.
The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 in the Play-In Tournament to notch the seventh seed. They now take on the No. 2 seed Denver Nuggets in the first round.
This will be one of the best matchups of the first round and Denver center Nikola Jokic spoke to reporters after practice on April 17. He made a shocking statement regarding the Nuggets vs. Lakers series last postseason.
Jokic said, “To be honest, I think every game in the playoff series last year was really tough. It could go either way and it’s probably the toughest series that we have (played) since I came here.”
He added, “Last year we beat them 4-0 but I think they are a really talented team. They are well-built and even have a couple of guys come back and I have a lot of respect for them. I think it’s going to be an interesting series.”
Like Jokic alluded to, the Lakers were swept by the Nuggets in the 2023 Western Conference Finals but the average margin of defeat was six points.
Denver did in fact sweep the series against Los Angeles this regular season as well but NBA fans should know by now to never count out LeBron James.
During the 2023 Western Conference Finals, James averaged 27.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 10 assists per game.
Jokic knows the greatness of James and isn’t going into the series overlooking the Purple and Gold.
Heading into this matchup, the Lakers are +310 underdogs according to FanDuel Sportsbook to win the series against the Denver Nuggets. Head over to FanDuel Sportsbook, claim your sign-up bonus, and take advantage of these odds to back the Lakers.
