The Lakers season came to an end in Denver, but not before one valiant fight from the team in Game 5.
There are no moral victories in the playoffs and the Lakers will never claim one. But for a second series in a row, and even more so this time around, they went toe-to-toe with the champions and gave them everything they could handle.
Monday’s Game 5 was a textbook closeout game with one team fighting for its lives and the other doing everything they could to counter that desperation.
The end result was the most common one throughout the series, both in terms of a Denver win and a Jamal Murray game-winner. But there was no shame in losing that game, to that team, in that arena.
Let’s look at three takeaways from this game.
That was every bit of a heavyweight duel between two of the best teams in the league. I don’t care that the Lakers just lost a first round series in five games. They are one of the very best teams in the league.
At some point, I’ll likely be able to watch the highlights of that fourth quarter and not feel the anxiety and nerves I did when I experienced it live. It was as tense a back-and-forth as I can remember because it truly felt like something was hanging in the balance. A win in Denver sends the Lakers back home for a Game 6, where a win would really make things interesting.
Both teams, though, had answers for everything they threw at each other. Austin Reaves was incredible down the stretch. LeBron James was LeBron James. D’Angelo Russell even chipped in.
In the end, very little separated these two teams. In fact, it wasn’t even a dozen points that separated them over the course of the five games.
Lakers lost in 5 games and were outscored by 11 points across the entire series
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) April 30, 2024
But there’s no banner to be raised for losing eight of nine games to the Nuggets in the playoffs this year even if they were close games.
Anytime you lose a game by a narrow margin, there are small things you can point to that were the difference. Anthony Davis’ injury is one of the big ones as he spent a good chunk of the third quarter with just one functioning arm.
But the biggest ones, to me, that the Lakers will look back and kick themselves on are free throws and 3-pointers.
At the charity stripe, the Lakers were 18-27 overall, a really, really tough number to look at in a game that was decided by two points. Everyone chipped in on that one with LeBron, Austin Reaves and Spencer Dinwiddie all missing two and Rui Hachimura, Anthony Davis and Jaxson Hayes all missing one.
If Reaves, an 85% free throw shooter this year, makes his two free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer or Dinwiddie, an 88% shooter with the Lakers, makes his pair or even Rui makes one and Reaves just goes 2-of-3, then it’s a different game.
Similarly, the 3-point shooting was brutal from the Lakers. D’Lo is at the forefront of that after going 2-10 from deep. But Taurean Prince and Gabe Vincent were 0-5 off the bench and Rui missed some WIDE open looks early in this one.
These, though, are the small margins that you have to hit on to beat the Nuggets. The Lakers didn’t and they, rightfully, got bounced out of the playoffs because of it.
The Lakers’ exit from the playoffs was only barely less embarrassing than being swept last year. Sure, the team fought hard and that’ll be remembered by fans. But, the fact is they’ve now lost eight of nine games to this team in the postseason and 12 of the last 13 overall.
So, where do they go from here? Reports have already surfaced that head coach Darvin Ham’s job is in jeopardy. If he goes, who do the Lakers target? There are certainly no obvious names out there, so do they wait to see how things shake out in the playoffs?
Also, what roster moves do they make? The likes of Trae Young and Donovan Mitchell have been mentioned a lot in the rumor mill. Are the Lakers, one offseason after preaching the importance of keeping a core together, going to blow that up to chase another third star?
What about players like LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell, who have player options? LeBron certainly seems like someone who will remain a Laker, but after another postseason with more downs than ups, what does the future hold for D’Lo?
As seems to always be the case, it’s a very interesting offseason in store for the Lakers now.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
