After getting swept in the Western Conference finals by the Nuggets in May, the Los Angeles Lakers hoped to get a measure of revenge against Nikola Jokic’s crew on Tuesday as they began their new regular season.
They fell short, 119-107, as they couldn’t prevent the Nuggets from scoring buckets off offensive rebounds or simply getting points in the paint. Jokic had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists while Jamal Murray put in 21 points, evoking memories from five months ago.
The Nuggets and their fans continued to rub it in, as the crowd at Ball Arena chanted “Who’s your daddy?” at one point. During Denver’s championship parade in June, head coach Michael Malone was introduced as the “Lakers’ daddy.”
Across X, formally known as Twitter, fans expressed their reactions to the Lakers’ opening night loss.
The Lakers are a very good team, it's obvious. The loss against the Nuggets doesn't change that. But, The Denver Nuggets are clearly on another level and have more synergy in their gameplay. This matchup is a bad one for the LA team, Perimeter defenders on the
— TOMI THOMPSON (@Kvng_tomi20) October 25, 2023
Point attack are too small and can't hang physically with bigger wings or move quickly with high end skilled guards I.e(Gordon, Porter, Murray). That's a problem against teams like the Celtics, Denver, even the bucks.
— TOMI THOMPSON (@Kvng_tomi20) October 25, 2023
They are weak in their transition defence and do not rebound well enough, If the Lakers can't bully you get consistent Half Court production, or transition quickly. More likely than not you will beat them(most teams can't).
— TOMI THOMPSON (@Kvng_tomi20) October 25, 2023
I thought most of the games in the Lakers Nuggets playoffs series could’ve literally gone either way. This game was basically never in doubt
— Common Sense Sports (@TheOfficial_CSS) October 25, 2023
Fella sleep during the nuggets/lakers but takeaways are the same. Nuggets still good. Jokic still the best in the world. ADisney is never gonna be the guy. LeBron is old.
— D🪼 (@dnjmz) October 25, 2023
Nuggets handled the Lakers very similarly this evening to how they did in the WCF. It’s a long season but I don’t think the Lakers did enough erase the desparity between the two teams. I think Davis needs to be bigger for them.
— Ted Shickadance (@InTheKnow85) October 25, 2023
Lakers win by pounding in the paint with bron and AD. Nuggets are 1 team who can challenge them inside with size. There size just helps them against a lot of the lakers strengths
— Brandon Cahill (@brandoncahill13) October 25, 2023
Y’all be saying I’m 2 hard on the players, but what should I say about AD scoring zero pts in the 2nd half of the Nuggets gm? Honestly, you guys tell me. What should I say, IF* I was on 1st Take 2morrow? #NBAOpeningNight #Lakers #Nuggets
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) October 25, 2023
Joker turned AD into a joke.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) October 25, 2023
