A year ago when the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, they were weary and worn down.
This year, it's different. That's why the Lakers feel like they have a chance — and why the Nuggets expect this to be a challenge.
Nikola Jokic and the defending champion Nuggets will face LeBron James and the Lakers in Round 1, a series starting in Denver on Saturday night. Denver swept the Lakers in last season's Western Conference finals, the next-to-last step the Nuggets had to clear before claiming their first NBA title.
“I think we match up with them really good and they match up with us really good, to be honest,” Jokic said. “Just because we won, that doesn't mean this time will be easy. ... I think it's going to be really interesting basketball-wise, tactics-wise.”
The Nuggets have won eight consecutive games over the Lakers, the longest such streak Denver has had in the series history. On one hand, that seems to be a good sign. On the other, Jokic seems to figure the Lakers might be due.
“Can we not mention that anymore?” Jokic said when asked about the streak.
James — the NBA's career leading scorer — makes no secret that he's a Jokic fan.
“He's one of the best players ever to play this game,” James said. “It's that simple. ... He does everything. The most important thing, he changes the way his teammates think about their own play. When you're able to inspire your teammates to play at a level sometimes they don't even feel they can play at, that's the true testament of a great one.”
Denver coach Michael Malone pointed out that last year's sweep is in the past, and not worth thinking about anymore. And he also noted that the Lakers are playing about as well as anyone of late.
“They’re 12-3 in their last 15 games and they’ve had great success with their current lineup, which is the same lineup we saw in the Western Conference finals,” Malone said.
JAMES IN ROUND 1
This is James' 17th time going to the playoffs, including his time with Cleveland, Miami and the Lakers. In the 16 previous years, his teams have reached the second round 15 times.
His record in first-round games: 62-17 — 13-3 in Game 1s. James' teams lost series openers in Round 1 in 2018 (Indiana over Cleveland), 2020 (Portland over the Lakers) and 2021 (Phoenix over the Lakers).
Saturday marks the third time he has opened the playoffs on the road — joining 2021 vs. Phoenix and last year vs. Memphis.
NUGGETS' TITLE DEFENSE
Winning last season's title did not make Denver take things lightly this season. Far from it.
The Nuggets won 57 games to tie a franchise record, had 24 road wins (second-most in team history), had 33 home wins (tied for the most in the West) and shot nearly 50% from the field.
BETMGM SAYS
Denver is the second favorite to win the NBA title behind only Boston, according to BetMGM. The Nuggets are listed at 3-1, with Boston at about 3-2.
Per BetMGM, the most likely scenario for this series is Denver advancing in five games.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The stats posted by the teams this season are really quite even.
The Lakers averaged 118 points to Denver’s 114.9. The Lakers shot 49.9%, Denver 49.6%. And from 3-point range, it was also close — 37.7% for the Lakers, 37.4% for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets got 44.4 rebounds per game, the Lakers 43.1. Denver had 29.5 assists per game, the Lakers 28.5. Blocks per game (Denver 5.6, Lakers 5.5) and steals per game (Lakers 7.4, Nuggets 7.1) were also basically a wash.
Denver has one big edge in defense: The Nuggets gave up 109.6 points per game, compared to the Lakers' 117.4.
LAST WORD
Denver coach Michael Malone: “What you always fight is human nature. You win a championship and you waited so long and worked so hard to get there. Now how do you come back and not relax and not say ‘Well, we did that.’ And to our credit, the proof for me is in the 57 wins.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone shouts during in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Salt Lake City. . (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) handles the ball in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Canadian police said they arrested three suspects Friday in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader last June that become the center of a diplomatic spat with India, and are investigating possible ties between the detainees and the Indian government.
Three Indian nationals in their 20s identified as Kamalpreet Singh, Karan Brar and Karampreet Singh were arrested in Edmonton, Alberta on Friday morning in the slaying of 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar by masked gunmen outside Vancouver, police said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked a diplomatic feud with India in September when he said that there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the slaying of Nijjar.
India had accused Nijjar of links to terrorism, but angrily denied involvement in the slaying. In response to the allegatio ns, India told Canada last year to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country. Tensions remain but have somewhat eased since.
The three suspects had been living in Canada as non-permanent residents, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said Friday at a news conference in Toronto.
“We are investigating whether there are any ties to the government of India," Mooker said, adding that it was an “ongoing investigation.”
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner David Teboul said Canadian authorities are speaking to counterparts in India. “I would characterize that collaboration as rather challenging," he said. “It’s been very difficult.”
The three men were expected to be transported to British Columbia by Monday to face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Nijjar, an Indian-born citizen of Canada, was a plumber and also a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan. But he had denied allegations of ties to terrorism.
A bloody decadelong Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s, until it was crushed in a government crackdown in which thousands of people were killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
The Khalistan movement has lost much of its political power but still has supporters in the Indian state of Punjab, as well as in the sizable overseas Sikh diaspora. While the active insurgency ended years ago, the Indian government has warned repeatedly that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback.
Media ask questions to Assistant Commissioner David Teboul, centre, Commander of the Federal Policing Program in the Pacific Region, during a news conference for an update on the Hardeep Singh Nijjar homicide investigation from June 18, 2023, in Surrey, B.C., Friday, May 3, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Media ask questions to Assistant Commissioner David Teboul, centre, Commander of the Federal Policing Program in the Pacific Region, along with Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards, left, Officer-in-Charge of Surrey RCMP Detachment, and Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, second from the right, Officer-in-Charge of IHIT during a news conference for an update on the Hardeep Singh Nijjar homicide investigation from June 18, 2023, in Surrey, B.C., Friday, May 3, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards, Officer-in-Charge of Surrey RCMP Detachment waits to speak during a news conference for an update on the Hardeep Singh Nijjar homicide investigation from June 18, 2023, in Surrey, B.C., Friday, May 3, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, right, Officer-in-Charge of IHIT speaks to media with Assistant Commissioner David Teboul, centre, during a news conference for an update on the Hardeep Singh Nijjar homicide investigation from June 18, 2023, in Surrey, B.C., Friday, May 3, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, Officer-in-Charge of IHIT listens to questions from media during a news conference for an update on the Hardeep Singh Nijjar homicide investigation from June 18, 2023, in Surrey, B.C., Friday, May 3, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
FILE - A banner that shows the late Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar is displayed outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia, Sept. 18, 2023, where he was gunned down in his vehicle while leaving the temple parking lot. Canadian police said Friday, May 3, 2024, that they have made three arrests in the June slaying. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
