By Shawn Stewart, Keegan Singh, Timothy An and AJ Olona

Lost Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets (Lakers lead series at 2-1)

9:00 pm EST on ESPN

Lakers, -6.0

Game 4 of the Western Conference Championship was exactly what the Denver Nuggets needed. Despite opening the series with 2 straight losses, the Nuggets were able to dominate the Lakers for much of the night. The Nuggets entered the game with much experience playing from behind. Finally getting to lead against the Lakers, we saw the Nuggets continue to gain confidence. Despite a late push by the Lakers, the Nuggets won by 8 points. After this much needed win, the Nuggets finally feel as if they are in this series.

Suddenly, we are looking at a must win for the Lakers. The Lakers cannot allow the Nuggets to tie up the series with another loss tonight. After Game 2 when Anthony Davis hit a 3 pointer with time expiring to win the game, things felt as if they were over. The Lakers odds to move on to the NBA Finals skyrocketed. That moment now feels like it was forever ago. Tonight will be a huge game for both teams. We have a much more dramatic game tonight than we have had in this series thus far. The Lakers need to win to take back control of the series. The Nuggets need to win in order to even the series up and prove that they should be taken serious.

Shawn’s Take:

Even in a game in which the Nuggets “dominated for most of the game”, the Lakers still only lost by 8 points. While the Nuggets were in control for much of the game, they almost allowed for a late push from the Lakers. Its a good thing for the Nuggets that the Lakers didn’t close it out to a 3 point deficit because we have seen what what Anthony Davis is capable if that happens. Despite the loss here, the Lakers are still heavily favored to move on to the NBA Finals. I see the Lakers winning here again. Despite the loss, the Lakers are clearly the better team with Davis and LeBron James controlling things and I will continue to pick them until proven otherwise. Even though I’d love to see the Nuggets win tonight, my gut is telling me the Lakers will pull it off.

Shawn’s Prediction: LOS ANGELES LAKERS WIN

AJ’s Take:

After being the only writer that selected the Nuggets to make the series interesting and win in Game 3, I am sticking with them. The Nuggets have proved time and time again throughout the Bubble that they simply cannot be counted out of any game. The Nuggets team has become one of the top teams in the West before out very eyes over the last two seasons. We have all known just how good Nikola Jokic is but it is so fun to watch Jamal Murray find his footing and become a star in the NBA before our very eyes. He has been clutch throughout the playoffs so far, hitting the most clutch 3 point shots in the playoffs since Steph Curry in 2016. Even in the 2 losses early in the series, it felt like the Nuggets were still competitive. It certainly feels like this series is the Nuggets’ to lose. I don’t see them giving up anytime soon.

AJ’s Prediction: DENVER NUGGETS WIN

Keegan’s Take:

Well, it’s fair to say that I didn’t see the Nuggets playing as well as they did in Game 3. Even though the Nuggets play hard every minute of the game and will never give up no matter the score, I still can’t see any way the Lakers lose this series. In Game 3, the Lakers were outrebounded and gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, which allowed the Nuggets to have extra possessions and opportunities to score. In addition to that, the Nuggets got the free throw line 29 times for the game while the Lakers only got there 22 times. The Nuggets also shot a lot better from the free throw line, converting 79% of their free throw attempts compared to measly 63.6% from the Lakers. I mentioned in the preview for the last game that if the role players of the Lakers continue to shoot well from three point range it will be an easy series for them. The complete opposite happened last game, the Lakers only shot 23.1% from three, which was the norm during other games in the bubble, but it recently seemed like they started to shoot the ball well from three again. The Nuggets continued to shoot the ball well from three, at 37.9% and it looked like their players were in rhythm from the perimeter. Looking towards tonight’s game, I can’t see the Lakers playing poorly in back to back games because if they do it’s going to be big trouble for them. You have to be careful getting complacent with the Nuggets, and as a Clippers fan I know. The Nuggets also made some ridiculous shots through the likes of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. I also don’t think Jeremi Grant will score 20+ again for a second game straight. If the Lakers rebound the ball better and shoot better from the free throw line they should comfortably win tonight’s game even if they don’t shoot well from three. With all that being said, I have the Lakers winning tonight by 5. 

Keegans’s Prediction: LOS ANGELES LAKERS WIN

Tim’s Take:

After a sluggish start to Game 3, the Lakers couldn’t finish off their comeback against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, as Jamal Murray nailed two three-point daggers late in the fourth quarter. While the Nuggets put on a good performance to win the game, they relied heavily on the performance of Jerami Grant on both ends of the floor to propel this team to an upset victory. I think that the Nuggets success tonight will come down to whether or not they can find a third player, behind Jokic and Murray, to have an outstanding performance. However, even if the Nuggets produce another stellar performance tonight, I think that the Lakers will be able to use their sheer talent and size to win this game. Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and Javale McGee combined for a grand total of FOUR rebounds in game 3. If this happens again, surely the Nuggets will have a great chance to win, but I’m putting my money on it not happening again and am expecting a dominating victory by the Lakers in Game 4.

Tim’s Prediction: LOS ANGELES LAKERS WIN

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