What Nuggets must do to finish off Lakers in gentleman’s sweep

The Nuggets have excelled in this series because of their ability to play their brand of basketball. Nikola Jokic mans the controls on offense, with Jamal Murray running around creating shots for himself, Aaron Gordon lurking near the rim, and Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope spacing the floor. Even when they found themselves trailing against the Lakers, there was never any inclination that they were concerned they would lose the game.

An interesting trend throughout this series, though, is that Denver hasn’t shot the ball all that well from behind the arc. In fact, the only game in which they have shot over 30 percent from three came back in Game 1, but it really hasn’t mattered, because Gordon had been getting whatever he wanted against the Lakers on the interior with Anthony Davis focused on Jokic.

Los Angeles diverted more attention to Gordon in Game 4, and held him to only seven points on seven shots. This hurt Denver’s offense because they once again struggled with their three-point shooting, hitting just nine of their 30 attempts from deep. Playing Taurean Prince in a bigger role seemed to have an impact for the Lakers here, as Rui Hachimura hadn’t been having much success keeping Gordon quiet.

On the other side of the ball, the Lakers finally got a more consistent showing from their supporting cast. Davis and LeBron James have both been scoring at will earlier in this series, but nobody else was really stepping up to help them. In this one, both Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell chipped in 21 points, which was enough to support 25 points from Davis and 30 from James.

With all that being said, there are three quick fixes that Denver should be looking to make in Game 5. Shoot the ball with more efficiency from behind the arc, find ways to get Gordon open looks near the rim, and focus on limiting Davis and James’ supporting cast. If they can do two of these three things, Game 5 should be a cakewalk.

There’s a lot of variance in three-point shooting, and considering how Denver shot 37.4 percent as a team during the regular season, those numbers should even out over time. The Lakers are playing tight defense at the three-point line, but if the Nuggets can create more separation and knock down more of those looks, LA will be in trouble.

If they can’t do that, Gordon’s role on offense becomes far more important. The Lakers finally adjusted and found a way to limit him after his 29-point outing in Game 3, so now it’s time for the Nuggets to respond. Getting him involved in more pick-and-roll sets with Murray as the ball handler should help him draw more favorable looks as a rim roller, and even if that doesn’t work, the attention he draws could free up more looks from three.

Defensively, the Nuggets may not really have to do much to employ that small aforementioned adjustment. Both Russell and Reaves can go cold on any given night, which we saw firsthand in Game 3 when Russell didn’t score a single point. Davis and James are going to get their points one way or another, though, so if Denver can keep one of these two guys quiet, their odds of winning increase dramatically.

Realistically speaking, Denver has enough talent where they should not lose three more games in a row to Los Angeles to get eliminated. But given their championship aspirations, taking another unnecessary trip back to LA would be a worst-case scenario for them, which is why ending this series in Game 5 is crucial. If they can tighten up their game just a little bit in these three areas, the Nuggets should be able to book their spot in the second round of the playoffs on Monday night.