The Lakers have a team that is built for the playoffs. Kobe Bryant hasn't been this in the zone in two years, and we all know how that ended. With a healthy Andrew Bynum, it is going to take a lot to stop this team, and Denver will only be the first opponent to come to that realization.
On the Western Conference end of the playoffs bracket, the Lakers and Nuggets kick off their first-round action at the Staples Center on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET (you can see the entire first-round bracket here). Even without Metta World Piece (who will continue to serve a suspension for elbowing James Harden in the head), the Nuggets will have their hands full.
Though the Nuggets rank first overall in points per game (104.1), they rank 29th overall in points allowed (101.2). The Lakers are better overall defensively, so unless Denver can put up 100-plus points every game, they're going to have to find a better way to beat LA.
In the month of April, the Lakers have let their opponents score over 100 points six times. They've lost only two of those games. They have the offense it takes to out-do the Nuggets, and they have the defense it takes to prevent Denver from firing away with abandon.
The Nuggets have been good in the month of April—there's no disputing that. They've gone 10-4, but in each game they've lost this month, they have failed to score 100 points.
The Lakers of the past have been known for being defensively sound. This year, they haven't been quite as shut-down as usual, but they can pull out the stops when they need to, like they did on April 13 against Denver. The Kobe-less Lakers won a tight 103-97 game, in which they weren't overwhelming but they were just good enough to win.
In that game, Bynum s...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
