The Denver Nuggets will take their very deep roster with no real stars against the Lakers’ Big Three and little nine in this series. It should be fascinating to watch. Here is a look at the matchups in this series:
POINT GUARD: 24-year old Ty Lawson really stepped up in 2011-12 for the Nuggets. He played in 61 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 34.8 minutes, 16.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Lawson has played in 11 games in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 25.9 minutes, 11.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. The Nuggets can’t pull the upset in this series unless Lawson plays really well in it.
26-year old Ramon Sessions is a solid quarterback for the Lakers’ offense. He played in 23 games (19 starts) for the Lakers and he averaged 30.5 minutes, 12.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. This will be his first playoff experience and the Lakers need him to be up for the challenge.
EDGE: NUGGETS
SHOOTING GUARD: 26-year old Arron Afflalo is playing his best basketball of the 2011-12 season right now. The Nuggets hope that carries over into the playoffs. Afflalo played in 62 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 33.6 minutes, 15.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He has played in 25 games in his playoff career so far and he is averaging 14.2 minutes, 5.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.
33-year old Kobe Bryant is one of the best players on the planet and he loves the big stage. He played in 58 games (all starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 38.5 minutes, 27.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Bryant has played in 208 games in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 39.3 minutes, 25.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
EDGE: LAKERS
SMALL FORWARD: 23-year old Danilo Gallinari is a pretty slick offensive player. He played in 43 games (40 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 31.4 minutes, 14.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Gallinari has played in 5 games in the playoffs in his career so far and he is averaging 29.6 minutes, 12.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. The Nuggets need Gallinari to have a good series.
32-year old Matt Barnes will be starting in place of Metta World Peace for the next six games. Barnes played in 63 games (16 starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 22.9 minutes, 7.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Barnes has played in 35 games in the playoffs in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 22.5 minutes, 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
EDGE: NUGGETS
POWER FORWARD: 22-year old rookie Kenneth Faried played pretty well this year. Faried played in 46 games (39 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 22.5 minutes, 10.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Faried is going to be giving up a lot of height in this series, so he’s going to have to be ultra aggressive in the paint for the Nuggets.
31-year old Pau Gasol is going to be a key in this series for the Lakers. He played in 65 games (all starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 37.4 minutes, 17.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. Gasol has played in 89 games in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 38.9 minutes, 17.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game.
EDGE: LAKERS
CENTER: 23-year old Kosta Koufos is going to have to be aggressive on the boards in this series. Koufos played in 48 games (24 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 16.5 minutes, 5.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He has played in 10 games so far in the playoffs in his career and he is averaging 3.3 minutes, 1.0 point and 0.9 rebounds per game.
24-year old Andrew Bynum should be dominating in this series for the Lakers. Bynum played in 60 games (all starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 35.2 minutes, 18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game. Bynum has played in 62 games in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 8.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.
EDGE: HUGE FOR LAKERS
BENCH: The Nuggets’ bench is going to have to be huge if they are going to pull a first round shocker and beat the Lakers in this series. 24-year old center JaVale McGee is going to have to have a big time series. He played in 20 games (5 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 20.6 minutes, 10.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. 36-year old point guard Andre Miller is going to be the first guard off the bench for the Nuggets in this series. He played in 66 games (7 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 27.4 minutes, 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Miller has played in 39 games in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 36.7 minutes, 16.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. 32-year old forward Al Harrington has a bum knee but he’s playing through the pain. Harrington played in 64 games (1 start) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 27.5 minutes, 14.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He has played in 41 games in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 22.0 minutes, 7.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. 26-year old SG/SF Corey Brewer’s game is D, so he’s going to get some P.T. in this series. Brewer played in 59 games (17 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 21.8 minutes, 8.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He has played in 6 games in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 3.8 minutes, 1.5 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. 25-year old center Timofey Mozgov is #3 in line at his position. He played in 44 games (35 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 15.6 minutes, 5.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Mozgov has yet to play in a playoff game in his NBA career. 33-year old PF/C Chris Andersen has been buried on the Nuggets’ depth chart this year. He played in 32 games (1 start) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 15.2 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Andersen has played in 31 games so far in his career in the playoffs and he is averaging 17.8 minutes, 5.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.
The Lakers are going to need help from their bench in this series. 32-year old point guard Steve Blake will likely be the first player off the bench in this series for the Lakers. He played in 53 games (5 starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 23.3 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Blake has played in 24 games in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 23.9 minutes, 4.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. 22-year old Devin Ebanks is likely going to share P.T. with Matt Barnes at small forward in this series. Ebanks played in 24 games (12 starts) for the Lakers this year and he is averaging 16.5 minutes, 4.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Ebanks has yet to play in a playoff game in his career. 24-year old power forward Jordan Hill played in 7 games (1 start) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 11.7 minutes, 4.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Hill is a player the Lakers hope steps up in his first shot at the playoffs in his NBA career. 31-year old PF/C Troy Murphy will likely get a few minutes a game in this series. Murphy played in 59 games (0 starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 16.2 minutes, 3.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He has only played 1 game in his NBA career so far, working three scoreless minutes with 1 whole rebound. 25-year old forward Josh McRoberts will also likely get in on the action in this series. He played in 50 games (6 starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 14.4 minutes, 2.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. McRoberts has played in 5 games in the playoffs in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 15.8 minutes, 5.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. 32-year old small forward Metta World Peace is suspended for the next six games, so he can’t play in this series until a deciding Game #7. Peace played in 64 games (45 starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 26.9 minutes, 7.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has played in 76 playoff games in his NBA career and he is averaging 37.0 minutes, 14.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
EDGE: HUGE FOR NUGGETS
COACHING: George Karl has beaten the odds by beating cancer and returning to the bench. He led the Nuggets to a 38-28 (57.6%) record during the regular season. Karl has a 75-97 (43.6%) record in the post-season in his NBA career.
Mike Brown led the Lakers to a 41-25 (62.1%) record during the regular season. He is 42-29 (59.2%) in the post-season but he routinely gets outcoached and his team doesn’t have that much faith in him.
EDGE: NUGGETS
PREDICITION: LAKERS IN SIX GAMES
