In the moment, it sure felt like the Los Angeles Lakers pushed Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets to their absolute limits during their first-round series in this past NBA playoffs.
Even in a five-game series, 2023 champion Denver looked as if it was running on fumes at times against LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But when you win in five games — thanks to two buzzer-beaters by Jamal Murray — such criticisms are easily overlooked.
Not according to ex-Nuggets shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
On the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, Caldwell-Pope admitted that the Nuggets were out of gas by the time they had to face the Lakers. So much so that they had nothing left in the tank and were dipping into their reserves just to beat a resurgent James and Davis.
Lakers fans, I’m so sorry (not really) to have reopened this wound:
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on why the Denver Nuggets struggled in the playoffs:
"We had no gas. We felt like the Lakers should have beat us. We was down every game"
[via https://t.co/16WEM9gMgq] pic.twitter.com/lMydIwZkpy
— BASKETBALL ON ???? (@BASKETBALLonX) July 24, 2024
If you’re a Lakers fan, I suppose that hearing this candidness from Caldwell-Pope should at least provide some measure of vindication.
Yes, the Nuggets were fatigued, but that series probably showed that a legitimate NBA title contender can still be built around James and Davis if they have a quality supporting cast surrounding them. For now, that is not the case, and they are a glorified two-man show.
If you’re a Nuggets fan, tidbits such as this likely show just how much Denver head coach Michael Malone botched the end of his team’s season. Yes, Denver had a thin bench last season, meaning its starters had to play more. But in that sort of scenario, you’d hope Malone would’ve realized the ultimate prize is winning another NBA title, not getting top seeding in the West (which the Nuggets blew anyway), and he would’ve begun resting his stars during the regular-season stretch run.
Instead, Malone had his team put the pedal to the metal the entire regular season, and the Nuggets had nothing left by the time the games really mattered. It’s a harsh lesson he’ll have to learn and take to heart if Denver and Jokic climb the NBA’s tallest mountain again in the coming years.
Thank you, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. You have just driven another painful dagger into both the Lakers’ and Nuggets’ fanbases.
