After yet another loss to the Nuggets, the Lakers were insistent postgame that Denver did not have a mental edge in the series.
While the route to the result was perhaps different, just about every Lakers fan could have predicted how Saturday’s game against the Nuggets would end.
As has been the case in all but one of their last 14 meetings, Denver came out ahead. It was perhaps the worst version of the Nuggets that has played the Lakers in the span, which makes it perhaps all the more surprising it was one of the most lopsided results between the sides.
Because of that, it also felt like the game that most represented Denver's mental edge over the purple and gold. The Nuggets have won in a variety of ways with a variety of rosters in a variety of types of games.
No matter the moment, the Lakers just can’t get over the Nuggets.
But that’s not a sentiment the Lakers themselves shared after the most recent loss. At the helm of that was head coach JJ Redick, who chalked the loss up to a lack of competitive spirit as well as X’s and O’s and not anything else.
“I have a pretty clear idea of what happened,” Redick said. “Whatever it was, it was not because we were haunted by the ghosts of the past or something like that. It was kind of obvious to me what happened there; just not the right spirit.”
A lack of competitive spirit has been an all-too-common phrase used by Redick, a bubbling problem in it’s own right. The players themselves, though, more or less echoed that sentiment, including Anthony Davis, who pushed back against the narrative that the results of the past weighed on the team on a night — and in a third quarter — like Saturday.
“I don’t think it does,” Davis said. “I think we just got to be better on both ends of the floor. We had multiple games this season where we played well in the first half and in the second half we don’t, but we still found ways to win. Guys still made shots.
“Fifteen points in the third quarter is not going to cut it against anybody…We did a terrible job tonight in our offensive execution and making shots and I think us not making shots had us unorganized on the defensive end as well.”
Davis does make a solid point that the Lakers have had games where they’ve looked like different teams in each half. Saturday could be written off as another example of that.
“I mean, last year is last year,” Reaves said, backing up his teammate. “The year before is so long ago. I can barely remember what I did yesterday. I mean, tonight they beat the s--- out of us.”
Reaves and AD are two of the most honest players on the team when it comes to their comments postgame, which should carry some weight here. You also wouldn’t expect the players to come out and admit they don’t believe they can’t beat any team, either.
At the same time, though, actions speak louder than words. And on Saturday, they did not look like a team that thought they could beat Denver. That hasn’t always been the case, even as recently as the playoffs earlier this year.
It feels unlikely that the Lakers will be able to ascend the Western Conference without eventually going through the Nuggets. But Saturday certainly showed that Denver is the kryptonite to the Lakers’ Superman and the purple and gold are not close to having a solution to the problem.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
