Lakers vs. Nuggets Game 3 Preview and Game Thread: Series shifts to Los Angeles

Now more than ever, the Lakers need to put together their strongest revenge game to save their season against the Nuggets in Game 3.

The Lakers are back home after spending most of the last week and a half on the road. Game 3 of their first round series takes place on Thursday in Los Angeles, where the purple and gold will play a playoff game for the first time since getting swept last season.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets

When: 7 p.m. PT, Apr 25

Where: Crypto.com Arena

Watch: TNT, Spectrum Sportsnet

In Game 2, when we all thought the Lakers were about to flip the script and finally put together a happy ending, Jamal Murray and the Nuggets found a way to turn this horror movie into a heartbreaking one. Now, Los Angeles has no choice but to move on from one of the most dispiriting games in recent franchise history.

The good news ahead of Game 3 is that the series shifts to Los Angeles, where the Lakers had a 28-14 record in the regular season, seventh-best in the league. Two of those 14 losses came against Denver, who L.A. seemed to finally figure out for a good 36 minutes in Monday’s loss before they collapsed in the fourth quarter.

Now, with the series and, frankly, their season on the line at home, the Lakers have one last chance to respond to adversity. Not only will it be a test of how they plan to adjust and whether or not they can do better in the clutch, but also for their overall morale. Here are four factors that will determine whether or not the Lakers can finally get one against the team they’ve now lost to 10 straight times:

How will L.A. adjust to Aaron Gordon guarding AD?

Perhaps the biggest reason why the Lakers went up by as much as 20 was because of Anthony Davis, who was flat-out dominant in the first half of Game 2. With Nikola Jokic as his primary defender in the first half, AD had 24 points on 11-12 shooting from the field.

Denver then countered by putting Aaron Gordon on Davis instead, which was one of the biggest reasons why the latter only scored eight points in the second half. Credit to Denver’s key adjustment and Gordon for changing the flow of the game.

Now, it’s the Lakers’ task to respond to this key adjustment in Game 3. How are they going to make sure that Davis is involved all game? Can Rui Hachimura, who has been a disappointment so far in this series, wake up and be the difference maker? Can they continue to get something out of attacking Jokic?

Can the Lakers get something from their bench?

Aside from Hachimura, the Lakers’ bench has significantly unperformed so far in this series. We all knew heading into the playoffs that L.A.’s bench wasn’t exactly their biggest strength but not to the point that they’ve only had 17 points in the last two games, all of which have been from Taurean Prince. It’s embarrassing to see Nuggets guard Christian Braun outscore the whole bench in the last two games.

Whether it’s Gabe Vincent, Spencer Dinwiddie (who has also been a disaster so far in this series) or Jaxon Haynes, someone has to produce. Hopefully, playing in a more comfortable territory will help. The least Vincent and Dinwiddie can do is knock down their three-pointers.

Can the Lakers stop hurting themselves?

This is the exact same thing I wrote in my preview ahead of Game 2. I mentioned that the Lakers’ margin for error is already extremely thin which is why they can’t lose the rebounding battle as well as give up second chance opportunities, big scoring runs, and turn the ball over. This wasn’t at all taken care of in Game 2 and it’s why they lost, even if they felt they were on the wrong side of inconsistent officiating.

The Lakers lost the rebounding battle and gave up 10 second-chance opportunities, which led to crucial shots for Denver down the stretch. L.A. gave up 54 points in the paint despite limiting the Nuggets to 23.5% three-point shooting.

Worst of all, they allowed the Nuggets to go on a 10-0 run in the third quarter, a 10-1 run early in the fourth and, finally, a 5-0 run that led to the Murray game-winner.

After going up by 20 in the first half, the Lakers played like they wanted to melt the clock and get the game over with as soon as possible instead of further pouncing on Denver to extend their lead. That’s not a formula that wins playoff games, especially against a team like the Nuggets,

Is there fight left in this Lakers team?

As a die-hard fan, I’m not going to lie, I’m still not over Game 2. That was one of the most demoralizing Lakers games I’ve ever watched that put me in such a distraught state in the last two days. Imagine how these players feel.

To be fair to the purple and gold, they played as great as they could in that first half and they somehow let that slip to a team that’s frankly just better than them from top to bottom — coaching staff included.

How the Lakers respond to such a heart-wrenching loss will be the biggest key in this one. It’s going to be interesting to see what their body language will be to start the game: Will they play angry and like a team that’s done losing 10 straight games in a row to the Nuggets? Or have they just accepted that no matter how great they perform, Denver is simply inevitable?

To be fair to the Lakers, they’ve responded well to adversity this season, especially in high-stake games. Now more than ever, they need to put together their strongest revenge game of the season. It’s time to empty the tank not only for their season but for the roaring purple and gold crowd that will be behind them in Game 3 and that’s as tired as them of losing to this Nuggets team for the past two seasons.

Let’s see if the Lakers can finally get one as the series shifts to Los Angeles on Thursday.

Notes and Updates

• Before we get to the injury report, I think it’s important to point out how the Lakers have been really bad in the second half to start this series. In the last two games, they’ve been outscored by Denver 114-83 after halftime. This needs to change if Los Angeles wants to stay alive in this series.
• For the Lakers’ injury report, the Lakers list Anthony Davis (low back soreness) and LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) are probable. After gaining momentum for a potential return, it looks like Christian Wood (left knee surgery) and Jarred Vanderbilt (right midfoot sprain) won’t make a return after all. So much for that.
• Cam Reddish (right ankle sprain) and rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino (lumbar disc surgery) remain out.
• As for the Nuggets, only Vlatko Cancar (left knee surgery) is out.
• Be sure to come join our Playback stream during the game!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani