If what Jamal Murray says is true, the Lakers have already missed their window to make this playoff rematch a compelling series.
Murray believes the Nuggets were too amped up on adrenaline early in Game 1, before they ran away with a 114-103 victory that extended their head-to-head win streak to nine games. He believes the excitement affected the Nuggets’ shot-making, including his own, on open looks. They needed to settle down, and eventually, they did.
It reminded him of their playoff opener in 2023.
“I think it’s just a greater energy (at the beginning), you know what I’m saying? You put a little bit more on your jump shots. I did for sure,” Murray said. “I remember last year, Game 1 against Minnesota, it was the same kind of thing. You’re just anticipating so much energy, so much adrenaline running through your body, sometimes you’ve just gotta relax and just take a shot like it’s practice. I wasn’t shooting like it was practice in the first half.”
Back in Los Angeles, there’s an ominous subtext to that observation: The Nuggets shot 6 for 23 (26%) from 3-point range in the first half Saturday, primarily on quality looks created by double-teams on Nikola Jokic … and only trailed 60-57.
The Lakers needed flawless game-planning and execution the first quarter (they ended the frame with a 137.5 offensive rating) and a bunch of baffling misses from Denver just to come up for air with a one-possession lead at intermission. Then the Nuggets made five of their first eight 3-pointers after halftime, and Game 1 was over.
If what Murray says is true, if that first half won’t be replicated because it was merely an annual case of Game 1 jitters, then the Lakers might need a miracle to pull off this upset.
For what it’s worth: In Game 1 against the Timberwolves, Murray shot 3 for 10 from the floor in the first half. The rest of the series, he was 48.9% from the field and 43.6% from 3-point range. Denver advanced in five games.
Murray was 3 for 11 in the first half of this Game 1.
What exactly constitutes “shooting like it’s practice,” by the way?
“It’s your whole mood and spirit,” Murray explained. “You can rush (your shot). You can not have your feet set. You can obviously still hit it. But I felt like I was rushing my shot early on. Just so excited to see it go in, I think. I just remember last year, it was the same thing against Minnesota. Took me until the second half to kind of make a couple.
“So — not just me — I think we’ll all shoot better next game.”
Speaking of mirror images with last year: If what Lakers coach Darvin Ham says is true, this could be spiraling toward another four-game sweep.
Ham told reporters the Lakers still have a few more defensive adjustments to deploy against Jokic, who amassed 32 points on 65% shooting without a turnover in Game 1. Rui Hachimura guarded him for the majority of the series opener, often fronting him to attempt to deny post catches. In the first half, sending a second defender to the ball worked against Jokic because his teammates were missing those open 3s. Not so much later. The two-time MVP also saw a bit of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. After the loss, Ham said the Lakers didn’t want to use all of their adjustments in Game 1.
Rewind the tape to Game 1 of the 2023 Western Conference Finals.
In the fourth quarter, Hachimura took over as the primary matchup on Jokic while Davis roamed over with weak-side help. It achieved brief success.
“We didn’t want to go too deep into the in-game adjustments,” Ham said after that game. “It’s still that ultimate chess game. So we were comfortable with the results. It gave us a chance to get back into the game. And it’s one of the things (that) we know if we need to go back to it, it’s there. But along with several other things we didn’t unveil tonight.”
That little tease sparked an entire news cycle of speculation and debate between games. Turns out, the secrets he didn’t unveil that night were three more losses.
It’s nine in a row now for the Lakers, and yet Ham’s comments indicate an eerily similar approach to this rematch, as if they haven’t fully learned their lesson.
While they’re ignoring the past, Murray is drawing from his. It’s why he didn’t even consider panicking when the Nuggets fell behind by 12 at home. On one possession early in the third quarter, he even gestured for his teammates to settle down before he initiated a play.
Denver was in the heart of a 17-point swing over 10 minutes.
“I just think we know what we want. We’re not trying to anything different. We’re not trying to, like, make stuff up,” Murray said. “Everybody knows where they should be, and they know (if they are) where they should be, they’ll get open shots. So that’s the beauty of this team. It’s just pure basketball. There’s no fighting like how it is in the park … where you don’t know where the shot’s gonna come from.”
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