How the Nuggets sent the Lakers home (twice)

How was Denver able to comeback twice in their last two home games against the Lakers? This watch along reaction film breakdown details how Jamal Murray was able to score down the stretch, defensive coverages and strategies from LeBron James and Coach Darvin Ham in the 2024 first round series matchup between Los Angeles and the Nuggets.

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it’s time for our first ever double watch along it’s a double feature let’s start in game two with the Lakers and the Nuggets this is the place to pick up Jamal Murray has struggled immensely throughout the first couple games of this series they’re actually talking about it on the broadcast here and they get into a little dribble handoff action and just an incredible finish around Anthony Davis at the bucket and the question is will this get them all going it’s a seven-point deficit the Lakers had a big lead earlier in this game and the nuggets have just been slowly chipping away at it hitting that extra gear that they have at home we’ll talk a little bit more about their home performance later on in the video but this is just the crescendo of Denver taking it up a gear hitting a level that only they can seemingly hit especially when they’re at home 7 seconds on the shot clock what do you do two-man game inverted pick and roll Jamal Murray yo he almost makes that and remember that footwork put that footwork in the back of your head that little shortened second step into a fading sideways shot great defense by Payton Watson the finish in transition it was a 19point lead in the third nuggets cut it to 10 by the end of that period and now it is a five-point game so a little over eight minutes to play I think that was Justin holiday with the length deflecting the pass then Gordon can get it next Springs the turnover great length and activity defensively from these big guys off the bench for the Nuggets pton Watson we just saw obviously can protect the rim incredibly well so on the restart two-man action Murray gives it to jic chases the handoff we’ve seen this before little behind the back doesn’t go but the thing Denver can do and we talked about it in the Deep dive clutch video we have out on the channel from earlier in the year is they just are so good down the stretch because you can’t take away that two-man game that they want to run and that two-man game exists within the organic structure of the offense joic is actually on hacham muray here not Davis so LeBron brings him up into the pick and roll gets a beautiful little scoop pass coming down the lane there for free throws one of two for ruie more two-man game with the corner empty and that looks good for Murray little hop back remember that footwork jab step like you’re driving into the lane huge hop back eight 18t mid-range down to four and Anthony Davis huge offensive series for him but Aaron Gordon that time Nice Contest gut Underneath Him same move from Murray ha so he’s just working this move where he comes off the handoff now Vincent doesn’t want to leave Gordon at the dunker spot with the two Shooters space behind the arc here ruy and LeBron don’t want to slide over so Murray that little hesitation where he acts like he’s going to pull it back is all it takes to get half a step the great dexterity on the scoop and so fourth quarter Jamal has come to life after struggling immensely in the first you know game and a half of this series so kcp goes under the LeBron screen that gives him the airspace and his Improvement as a shooter over the years is part of just his incredible longevity he’s now an above average pullup shooter like that from three and man kcp misses this but this is what makes the Denver offense so difficult to guard it’s an inverted pick and roll with joic playing point guard Reeves tries to recover because they don’t want to switch Reeves onto joic and that recovery is essentially what creates all the space for KC on that quick pullup he’s a great shooter but just misses that one joic back on to Davis here they don’t give up the switch oh my gosh I mean they did not get anything that time they tried the screen and roll no switches no advantages and LeBron James pushes it right back back to eight with just over five to play you can always fall back on joic in the post they double skips the pass [Music] out and playing at altitude in Denver is such a homecourt Advantage for them because when you play these intense games with Pace here they come right on Q in transition oh what a great pass by Michael Porter Jr and this is the growth of Michael Porter Jr particularly in this series where his overall floor game has been better this is a pretty good three-pointer for him in transition but a layup is better and you basically get free throws but the Nuggets seem to get stronger later in the game and these run out plays are so critical as part of their success yic Outlets yic grab and goes whatever it may be so joic back on ruie they bring him up to set the screen and again just not giving up that switch and so you end up with LeBron dribbling for the entire possession kp’s hands he some of the best hands in the league as we talked about a thinking basketball podcast we give out the thinkes every year for our defensive Awards is one of our favorite episodes kcp always gets shine there and so working for that switch playing that very deliberate hunting game against jic to try to create that switch has stalled out the offense a couple times nice Challenge and contest by Davis yic gets it back and look at this two-man game pitch back to jic incredibly well defended by Anthony Davis who takes the body shot contests and the second joic shoots it he goes and gets it because he knows where it’s going this is that Z bound concept we talked about with him so many times over the years it’s not the shooting percentage that counts it’s the efficiency on The Possession and when he grinds you back toward the basket like that and then has the motor and the reaction time to go get it you didn’t stop it you have to clear the board to finish the possession okay Lakers come out of the timeout just over four to play four-point game and it’s a little two-man game with ad and LeBron Not a Bad Thing to fall back on but again they don’t really generate an advantage oh another bailout shot from LeBron James games this is multiple possessions in a row we’ve seen the Lakers struggle to get anything in the first 15 to 20 seconds of the shot clock and first kcp defends this just so well navigating the screen disrupting anything they want to do and then second at the end here when Davis rolls down to the basket jic comes over to help Murray is sitting at the free throw line to take away that driving lane there’s no movement from the Lakers so it’s easier to defend and you just end up with this late clock Up and Under move it’s just spectacular shot to bail them out but LeBron missed that free throw so it’s another free throw another point the Lakers are leaving on the board in these Incredibly Close games I’m always fascinated by this stuff our perception of the game changes because someone missed or made a free throw or two five minutes before the end of the night yic in the meat grinder with the hook and the question is where do you double here after joic gets this foul line touch because LeBron doesn’t want to leave Aaron Gordon at the dunker spot we know what happens there jic finds him and you have the two insanely good Shooters on the other side of the court so yic just gets a ton of space to work with he’s too skilled the touch is too good four-point game though by the way they switch Davis back onto joic in the second half here hachimura was guarding him earlier in the game and yet another Laker possession deep into the clock it’s basically a Reeves ISO Austin Reeves huge shot on the Baseline oh Jamal Murray he did it again this is what we’ve been talking about so yic brings it back pick and roll with Murray T of space and Jamal acts like he’s snaking out and going to stop and then at the last second changes Direction and scores and there’s two key things to this play one is D’Angelo Russell is really the person being faked out here because if he commits hard to that driving Gap kcp is wide open in the corner you can’t leave him open in the corner if LeBron steps up hard again this this is Aaron Gordon’s gravity developing on the Baseline so he just basically fakes out three or four Lakers at once with that play because Davis also expects him to Circle back out Reeves at the other end ends up with joic he’s just going to drive and go at him himself nice defense by jic nice help by Porter and so what happened here is that kcp does not want to leave LeBron James he does not want to go guard Austin Reeves and end up with jic on LeBron James Aaron Gordon is on ad in the corner and so there’s this miscommunication of which of the guys jic should be guarding will he be guarding ends up on Reeves but they do a really nice job recovering even Murray not selling out to ruie above the break and playing the pass to the much better shooter in the corner D’Angelo Russell that’s just knowing your personnel the little things the Nuggets do in these big moments is really impressive to watch speaking of impressive niic you can go to the clear out just backs ad down power power spin up fake at the last second we are down to one as we come up on the two-minute warning lineup set this time yogic on the corner with haimura Russell’s just stuck this possession goes nowhere it’s like a broken record they were looking for this Zoom action a screen for LeBron James to get the handoff but kyp totally takes it away then LeBron great IQ for a podcaster flips the screen and just says dowlo you go get the handoff but he doesn’t do anything with it Murray fights through the screen poor Porter stays connected on that handoff then they late switch it so Porter peels to DLo I mean this is just a centralized brain that is the Denver Nuggets defense it’s really awesome to watch LeBron ends up on joic on the Cross Match they go pick and roll oh great play by LeBron oh my goodness another incredible play from LeBron James the defense what is going on jic trying to draw foul Murray okay so after LeBron dunks on Jamal Murray they instantly inbound joic is ahead of Davis so he’s sprinting out into the front Court DLo comes over and joic is trying to draw a three-shot foul airballs it Gordon the amazing reaction time to get it oh Reeves saves it falling out of bounds and Michael Porter Jr is just money and the game is tied so somehow that whole sequence ends up with Denver plus one tying the game that’s Porter Junior’s 63 of the game let’s see what the Lakers run out of the timeout D’Angelo Russell ooh okay this is nice so this is something different from the Lakers a little wrinkle finally they come out of the timeout it is a Spain pick and roll alignment and that little extra moment of confusion occupies all the help Defenders so Murray is a half step behind Dow who can get to that strong hand Scoops it up with the left nuggets come out of the timeout Murray again and he’s hit on the drive for free throws so Murray makes both we’re back to a tie game right where we were a second ago oh Lakers run the same play but they invert it LeBron is the ball handler this time D’Angelo Russell is the one setting the screen on the screener in the paint he gets a great hit on Aaron Gordon to stop him there tough help for jic great execution from the Lakers back up two and you know what Denver’s running they have the ball in Murray or jokic’s hands or essentially both here’s a swing oh my goodness the shot making of Jamal Murray so they switched the first one with Davis out on Murray LeBron guarding joic and this is their chemistry joic comes out for the catch right here realizes the screen might be the better option LeBron recovers and that recovery allows a little space for Murray’s step back man has ice in his veins obviously 5-second differential they go back to the same set they’ve run three times out of the timeout oh kcp just fell down LeBron wide open it rims out the good Shooters Miss as I like to [Applause] say and now no timeout because you’re the Denver Nuggets offense you don’t need a timeout Murray joic pick and roll switch game and it was the same stepb move incredible shot Fading Into the corner poor ad stuck on the bench there just ending up in the Hornets Nest salt in the wounds so Jamal Murray a buzzer beater the Nuggets comeback the Lakers and the Nuggets they play the same game every time let’s do it again game five it’s the exact same thing this time we are tied already with eight to play in the fourth Davis and LeBron having big scoring games again and James Just Trucks kcp to the basket to get us kicked off I promise you these are different games but these teams always play the same game and and I could just watch it over and over again on a loop and that’s what we’re doing here today LeBron misses another free throw so keep those in the back of your head just fourth quarter Miss free throws Murray has had a much better game here he was questionable with a calf strain what a pocket pass and this is another one of these plays to put in the back of your head empty side pick and roll Davis actually briefly goes to play the pass Murray still hits that little window anyway that’s what’s so tricky about covering that play yic is such a good screener but you can’t give him any space on the roll so you have to respect his role actually 21 points 15 boards eight assists it’s been one of jokic’s worst playoff games in the last few years uncharacteristic turnovers some Miss shots he normally makes good look that time from LeBron they go to yic in the post the double comes look at that skip pass and Gordon just misses a bunny so when they double jic from the top the next Defender has to slide over and take Murray D’Angelo Russell slides over to take Michael Porter Jr Murray knows this and just skips it into the corner there’s that kcp corner threat great reaction from LeBron kcp misses Gordon for the layup that time finds him on the drive so good looks for each team here DLo gets by joic in space and just keep the ball in Murray or jokic’s hands spamming these actions Nice Contest from Anthony Davis Davis hurt oh wait a second yic yic with great hands interrupting my thought what a play from yic those quick hands critical steel taking away a transition possession from probably the best transition player in the history of the NBA LeBron James but he interrupted my thought Davis hurt like his trapezius shoulder neck area a little bit early in this half and wasn’t really able to lift that left arm that’s a great block on Murray with the right arm but he’s kind of been just dangling it around I don’t know if it was a stinger stayed in the game basically and has struggled with that left arm for a little bit although it’s come back to looking like normal hand off up the gut Murray just rims out ends up with with the board I don’t know if that was a travel Casey Pete the nuggets are in front Lakers call a play from the sideline staggered screen for DLo that is a deep shot from LeBron good look from Russell on the reset that just rims out joic oh what a great play by LeBron to recover this is the second Outlet pass in this game jokic has missed you almost never see him do that although this one was some Dion Sanders free safety stuff from James getting back and another transition Blow by in space jic trying to recover so the Lakers take a one-point lead on the goal uhoh he can’t let Michael Porter Jr get free like that the man is shooting like 50% in his NBA career on wide openen threes according to the tracking data a great route by mpj totally throws off ruy chasing him he expects him to go to the corner gets stuck on the wrong side of the screen That’s All She Wrote five more threes in this game 26 Porters up to nice late double from Porter there and that’s not a great shot 18 foot not even like normal footwork there for ruy to set that shot up so it didn’t really have the right elevation Cross Match here against Reeves Aaron Gordon always leaking out in transition to create those mismatches Lakers come back in transition Austin Reeves another great transition attack the deceleration we are tied same route that time from Porter jior but ruy covered it much better so they just fall back on the yic post up here comes that double and it is a poster Jamal Murray gets LeBron back from the game two dunk down the stretch Reeves initiating again good look from him bounces around and goes in six quick points from Austin Reeves and see Denver just comes right back with Pace the conditioning at the altitude and what do you do here once Reeves loses half a step if you’re Anthony Davis you don’t want to leave jic we just talked about that and if you’re LeBron you don’t want to step too much off Aaron Gordon he actually stunts toward Murray to try to fake him into picking it up but Jamal’s got the Rhythm right now he finished with 32 and seven assists in this game out of the timeout they go LeBron Davis pick and roll and this is just a vintage spread pick and roll kyp Takes Two Steps over to help on Anthony Davis that opens up the close out Gordon doesn’t want to overcommit to leaving ad on the lob great finish by DLo Lakers are really good Lakers are a really good team they’re just dealing with this monster in the Nuggets who then come out of the timeout with their own stuff and when that first action breaks down just go to this guy oh and here we’ve got some controversy okay so there’s a foul called on the floor the Lakers challenge this call they only have one timeout and I believe the rule here which is a little weird is that because it’s their second challenge they lose the timeout anyway so they can win The Challenge from a basketball perspective which they do the all the other contact down lows called incidental Davis gets the block so it’s no free throws Lakers also have imminent possessions so they get the ball so it’s a huge win on the challenge but they lose that last timeout because it’s their second challenge nuggets end up switching this time jic on LeBron they usually send a double late this time it’s Reeves in the corner and again grab and go jic just pushes backs down ruy no one’s around I mean the guy it’s like shooting at a Nerf hoop with this guy everything inside 10 or eight feet is just like these little droplets of water gently into a pond bad game for yic 23 points 18 boards nine assists trying to work the Russell Davis oh man Austin Reeves Lakers back in front I think we should have these teams play another series the Nuggets can move on but I think just for exhibition purposes we should see how many times they can do this oh and this is because of the h help jokic’s motor passing this ball and then immediately going to the perimeter to screen the screen chips away at Russell a little bit he calls for the late switch peels over to joic and that’s great but joic is inside already Cookie Monster eats the rebound Denver back in front this game is the best ah how do you do that how do you do I don’t know how you do that at 29 let alone 39 left hand adjustment they worked this two-man game constantly resetting it Jamal Murray fade we’ve seen that shot before well defended by ad how did Aaron Gordon get this LeBron has him boxed out Aaron I mean that’s just will athleticism uh-oh oh my God Jamal Murray you do not want to leave Jamal Murray open for three with a minute left in a playoff game that is not doctor recommended two-point game Reeves oh he’s he makes that shot like 60% of the time I feel like pretty good look for him on the late switch now they have to double because of the Cross Match and this is all okay so this is all because joic joic just gets it and pushes it right down their throat so only the smalls are on the same side of the Court Reeves or Russell has to pick him up they actually just double him wisely and then no one scrams out so when they repost LeBron does a great job getting there at the last second oh no foul and LeBron looks gas the hands on the hips that was a great Rotation by him at the last second could be a foul I like I like letting him play a little bit personally 38 seconds to go ruy sets the screen so they go after Michael Porter Jr isolation LeBron this time he gets the free throws on this end Porter just reached a little bit too much when you’ve played this long even when you’re not a great free throw shooter that’s going down one six all and one subtle thing about that prior possession LeBron walked the dog to give them more time with the ball once he got the switch with Michael Porter Jr he took a long time to attack so you’d lose the two for one an extra four or five seconds would be very helpful because remember the Lakers don’t have any timeouts so now Denver is going to milk it all the way down in the tie game if LeBron had missed they would have need to have fouled same situation so I think he should have gone a little bit earlier they’re looking for joic Murray he did it again the blue arrow did it again half court heave they have no timeout so nothing they can do and first of all jic the same thing that we saw earlier transitioning from fighting for the Post catch at the elbow and then a immediately sprinting into the screen to try to put Davis behind the play Murray comes off the pick ad doesn’t want to leave that roll pass for jic you can’t leave these guys open creates the little s side step hanging elevation Denver’s just too good the Nuggets they are now 54 and seven at home in the last two years with this starting lineup 54 and seven the last time they lost a regulation game at home by more than three points was March 8th 2023 March 8th 2023 that means in 61 home playoff games they’ve either won or had a chance to win at the last second in 59 of the games incredible performance from LeBron James um in our model for patreon subscribers patreon.com thinking basketball the second best first round performance by Box Score jokic’s first first 28 points per game in the series 63% true shooting Lakers just got a raw hand being dealt the Nuggets I think they were one of the better teams in the league but Jamal Murray the blue arrow ice water in his veins we’ve got a video on him on the channel we’ve got a video on why the nuggets are so good in the clutch on the channel check those out hope you enjoyed this one to support us patreon.com thinking basketball otherwise we’ll see you in the future for more and hope you are having a great day