What Game 1 of Lakers-Nuggets Tells Us About the Rest of the Series

The conference finals are off to a rollicking good start. The Nuggets held on for a 132–126 win over the Lakers on Tuesday night, building a 20-point lead before white-knuckling through the fourth quarter. The stars starred out. Anthony Davis had 40 points and 10 rebounds. LeBron James put up a casual 26/12/9. And Nikola Jokić absolutely dominated, amassing 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists to lead Denver. (Jamal Murray added 31 points of his own for good measure.)

The second half was particularly interesting. After the Nuggets built their lead, the Lakers came storming back. Los Angeles began shooting the lights out offensively while stacking stops. In the fourth quarter, Los Angeles also had success switching its matchup on Jokić. Anthony Davis began roaming off Aaron Gordon, while Rui Hachimura took the initial assignment against Joker. Here are some thoughts on the in-game adjustments, and what we may see in Game 2.

Jokić had no trouble navigating the Nuggets’ offense while being guarded by Anthony Davis for much of Game 1.

David Zalubowski/AP