Lakers’ sole focus: Finishing strong
LeBron James, AnthonyDavis and the Lakers were there waiting. Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers were right on the doorstep.
One more winwould have set up a Western Conference finals showdown between the Los Angeles teams, the top two seeds who share residence at Staples Center. Itwould have been the most eagerly awaited series at DisneyWorld, turning Lake Buena Vista into LA-ke Buena Vista.
The Nuggets ruined those plans with a resounding rout in Game 7 thatmay have taken the air out of the bubble for some, but the Lakers say meant nothing to them.
“We knew it was going to be a good game but our focus isn’t on the Clippers or the battle ofLA, butmore so what can we do to finish our season strong,” Davis said.
They can do it by beating the Nuggets to get to the NBA Finals for the first time since the Lakers won their last championship a decade ago.
The series starts Friday, with the top-seeded Lakers coming off another long rest and the third-seeded Nuggets facing another quick turnaround after making NBA history by erasing a 3-1 deficit for the second time in this postseason.
“Obviously I think the Lakers are probably the most-rested team in the bubble,” Nuggets coach MichaelMalone said. “They’re taking care of business, so give them credit in that regard, but our guys seem to be pretty locked in to our next challenge coming up.”
The Nuggets also went seven games against the Jazz in the first round.
Malone said the biggest question in this series was whether his team was satisfied with making the conference finals for only the second time in franchise history, or was still driven to go further.
There’s no such question with the Lakers, built to win now with All-NBA first-team selections James and Davis playing together. Both averaged better than 25 points and 10 rebounds against the Rockets in the second round.
The Lakers dropped Game 1 against both theTrail Blazers and the Rockets, then followed with four straight victories. They seem to get better as the series go on, which could be trouble for a Nuggets team that has been taking five games to play their best basketball.
“We still have a ceiling thatwe feel likewe can get better and it’s our job to not put a cap on wherewe can go,” Jamessaid. “Sowe knowas the series goes on we start to get more and more comfortable with our opponent, with our schemes, with our system of whatwewant to do andwe hope to continue that in this series.”