The Denver Nuggets aren’t just happy to be here. They had their bubble training camp compromised because about half of their team showed up late to Disney World. Then they fell down 3-1 against the Utah Jazz. They came back and then did it again against the Los Angeles Clippers, who were the favorites to win the NBA Championship coming into the playoffs. But they know that what awaits them in the Western Conference Finals is unlike anything they’ve faced yet in the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Lakers, along with the Miami Heat, have taken care of their business better than any other team in the NBA Bubble. They’ve lost Game 1 twice but have come back to win four straight and close out their first two series in five games. That consistency is something Nuggets star Nikola Jokic respects and he expects it to be used against them in the Western Conference Finals, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com.
“I mean, even when we beat the Clippers, they were talking how the Clippers lost. They don’t think about us. Not even the Lakers, not even anybody,” Jokic said. “I think they’re really focused. You can just see how they’re playing. Even the Portland series, the Houston series, they are really locked in. They will not take us for granted. We kind of surprised the Clippers. Probably they don’t want to make that happen to them, so I think they’re going to be really focused and really locked in.”
Jokic believes that the upset of the Clippers has the Lakers on alert. With the Nuggets only a few days off of completing their unprecedented second 3-1 comeback of the playoffs, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers can take advantage of being the most rested team in the matchup.
