Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers

Third quarter no show killed everything.

That was the theme for the better half of the season. Every third quarter.

3rd quarter lakers ik it was just gonna happen

36-16 :(

What a season man

You’re a beast man. I hope pelinka pays you whatever you want.

Hoping to be a laker for life

How the hell did you manage to secure that username only 43 days ago lol

ILY austin

Well done tonight Austin 😎

this isnt the real austin btw lmao

/u/austinreavesHBK12 is the real one lol

Gg—please be a laker forever <3

This series feels like the series we got swept by Dallas to their Championship. Opponent red hot shooting and our superstar starting to fade.

Are you fr austin reaves

Still a great season no matter what the other fanbases say

Darvin Ham tied the Clippers with 1 WCF appearance all time this season.

They can have their regular season hallway match-up banners lol. 41-7 record or whatever it is in the past 12 years, yet the Lakers have won 1 ring, and made 1 more WCF than they did in that span.

LOL all those haters talking trash don't even have teams left in the playoffs. We basically made the WCF on a team that was assembled 80% into the season. We'll be back.

Lakers always going to have the most haters out there, while rooting for their scrub ass teams.

I have warrior fan friends who claim they would have rather lost in the second round than to get swept in the WCF. Talk about wack

r/nba just shits on whatever team just got eliminated. It’s what they do.

Hats off to Denver. From 2-10 to the WCF, I’m proud of this team.

The correct take. Can't deny that they played hard.

Everyone not named AD played hard tonight

he still try on defensive end, just because he isn't dunking like AG or TT doesn't mean he isn't playing hard. He is not build to stop Jokic or strong center, it is time for fans to realize that AD best position is 4 and close at 5. That's it.

Yeah. He's the whole defensive scheme. We need to have another rim protector so he can roam around and not waste his energy on defending bigs at the post

AD better get as much shit as Ham is getting

That foul on the 3, yet again. Lost by 2

Something is very wrong with this guy....

Boston on the other hand….

Exactly. We over achieved and now we have amazing blocks to build off of. Excited for the off season to see how we retool the roster.

Denver was the better team this year, and that's ok. We just ran outta gas. Lost all 4 games late in the 4th 3 of them on the last couple possessions. The run our team went on was absolutely incredible. History will forget this team but they deserve all the credit

Very proud but ADs effort tonight really has left me disappointed. His inconsistencies once again are the reason we lost a game

I really felt like the team was playing better when TT was in there.

I said this in the game thread, but it was obvious seeing the energy from someone who had fresh legs compared to the rest of the team (and even the Nuggets). The playoffs are a war of attrition and this team has been running full tilt since February. It caught up with them. I wish Ham had tried to mix it up earlier in the series with TT, Christie etc. but it is what it is.

I really don't understand narrative surrounding AD. This dude literally carried us to this point for large portions of the year. He's not a guaranteed bucket-getter and hasn't been since his early New Orleans days. This Nuggets team is equipped with exactly the right players to counteract AD's defense and rebounding ability but he competed ... What is he supposed to do if Murray is hitting ridiculous banks off the top of the glass, or Jokic is draining one-foot behind-the-head heaves with a hand in his face? And no, he didn't score well in this game, but first half was all LBJ driving (you think those lanes would be wide open without AD?) and second half was mostly garbage offense from tired players. Do you want him to force up shots against double teams? He went at Jokic trying to draw his fourth foul four times in the 3rd and got hacked with no call. That's just the way it goes sometimes. I'm not going to say this was a great game from him, but "he didn't want to win", "he quit on the team", etc. is just low-quality BS.

Without AD we don't make the WCF!

Lakers don’t make it pass Memphis or GSW without AD. His defense was phenomenal in those two rounds and changed the entire complexion of the game

Wtf are people complaining about his effort. He tried all he could but he couldn't buy a bucket until the 4th quarter when he scored 10.

People are mistaking playing like complete ass to being lazy

It seemed like he literally didnt want to win.

Even worse, it looked like he was foot out the door coming into the game. That’s just inexcusable.

Denver proved they are the better team - their stars and role players stepped up big time. Hats off to them. Sucks that it ended the way it did but the team has alot to be proud of turning things around since the start of the season.

Yup. Good run boys, can’t hang your heads too low.

Himmy Butler time boys

Can't say LeBron didn't go down fighting til the end.

I don’t think we’ll ever see his like again

Can’t wait to see this comment again next season

Aaron Gordon really outscored AD on an elimination game I'm sick y'all..

We started 2-10 and got to the conference finals. FUCK BOSTON

Only 2 teams have had a better season than the Lakers - Nuggets and Heat. Not bad for playing a vampire for 2/3rds of the season and AD and LeBron needing surgeries

And yet the haters still want to put in cheap hits for no reason 😂.

Tristan Thompson played with the most heart. Fought for rebounds but Ham keep running 3 guard lineups

It’s crazy how he didn’t go back to him in the 3rd and then you see the lead just slip away……

We started Rui for him to have the worst game of his playoff this year

rui played fine. missed shots happen. nobody shoots well all game. he has a bright future.

I agree but we literally start him on the most crucial game of the year 😂. Dumbass Ham should have start him before there was so much pressure.

Dlo didn’t start, that’s what matters.

A +1 overall so he wasn't a complete negative. Missed a couple of gimmes and lost confidence so he deferred all second half.

3rd quarter Lebron deferred to his teammates, and they let him down. Couldn’t trust them on the last play Story of the game

That swing where Dennis and Rui missed wide open threes and AD fouling Murray on a missed three ended the game. What can you do when your teammates are actively trying to lose you the game.

Basically story of Lebrons career

Very true. Too, too true…

Really sucks to know lebron did all he could this game only to lose

Dude was so gassed. 2016 Lebron would’ve yammed that down at the end. He can only do so much.

2016 was 7 years ago which is just crazy

Honestly. Just when I counted him out. He gave us everything he had.

AD at the 3 point line with the clock expiring is everything you need to know about this game.

Standing like usual

What an anticlimactic end to the season

We were going to hit a wall eventually, the difference between a team whose been playing good ball since the trade deadline and a team formed since the beginning of the season. We also need to revisit the notion of getting centers to take the load off AD like in 2020.

Having Tristan Thompson in there helped a lot. Imaging having another legitimate center.

Nuggets also been knocking on the door for a few years

NBA fans forget this too....WCF in 2020, Semi's in 2021 and in 2022 Jokic took a roster of Facu Compazzo, Austin Rivers and Will Barton into the playoffs, minus Jamal Murray and MPJ. Nuggets have a great young core that's gonna be dangerous in the immediate future. 4 MORE TO GO!

I thought Lebron going off for 40 was pretty poetic. He was going to make for damn sure this loss would not be his fault and it wasn't. Not at all. He was trying everything to will the team to victory. Still, we had an amazing run. From 2-10 to WCF. I'll take it.

Lebron put it all on the line this game, played 47 minutes and 56 seconds on a injured foot. Took the assignment of guarding Jokic and Murray down the stretch and Anthony Davis rewards him by playing like he just didn't give two shits about the game. What a shame. Edit: For you fans of other teams already DM'ing me saying I'm making excuses about his foot, have you not paid attention at all since it got hurt in the Mavs game?

Yep. LeBron had to attack the rim, create for others, and then defend their two best players for the last half of the 4th. Disappointing game for AD.

You are getting DMs over *this* comment? Lmfao Who are these losers??

LeBron and the Lakers collectively ruined like half of NBA fans’ childhoods, this is their super bowl

It does still bring a smile Fuck them kids

Which is hilarious because all the ones talking had a worse season compared to us🤣

Seriously. Who’d be petty enough to lurk in this sub and challenge this dude but not publicly?

DM'ing on reddit is just weird as hell. Fight in public you cowards

Yeah January Lebron was different

When he looks like that I can see him playing at a high level for 5 more years

Honestly I’ve always defended AD but it just feels like he didn’t really put forth full effort offensively until the last few minutes. I mean he didn’t even really call for the ball it always just found it’s way in his hands. Disappointing.

Other teams fans are just delusion at this rate. At 38 years old, in his 20th season he puts up 40 9 9 and played literally an entire game of basketball without a break and people will still say anything they can to disrespect him. I’d like to know what Jordan was doing in year 20, oh wait he wasn’t playing, weird. Everyone needs to just sit back and realize LeBron is a fucking monster and the GOAT without question. Name another player who could literally do what he just did. Bum ankle isn’t an excuse is just shows he would be even more impressive if he was 100%. He clearly wasn’t but that’s not the reason the series was lost. Series was lost because AD and DLO played like trash night in and out besides game 1. Ham can’t coach a line up or situations to save his life

What impressed me even more was getting those stops on Jokic and Murray in the 4th.. damn

Idk why but AD smiling and laughing with the Denver players in the dap ups at the end pissed me off. Like yeah shake their hand, but don’t look happy.

He was doing it in the middle of the game too. I said this soft mfer needs to stop joking and laughing and put his head down and finish at the basket. Lazy mfer.

LeBron played like he’s about to get foot surgery anyway. AD played like he doesn’t wanna fly to Denver anymore.

Darvin Ham in the timeout twice says lemme just have my 38 yo star who played 48 minutes drive into a crowd or something idk. Dude is a mess.

Not even joking we should have a ran a play for Austin to shoot a 3

They did. It got knocked out of bounds. The final play is what they decided after lol

instead ham had austin inbounding the ball

I was screaming at my tv and so frustrated. Just so many boneheaded decisions and plays, one after another.

Ham can't come up with plays like that

Both he and Rui could have gotten good looks. Would have been fine with either.

I want Vogel back

After that first half, this ending was sad. I’m fucking sad right now

AD can’t continue to be this inconsistent. He can not achieve the stature of Giannis or Joker being this inconsistent

He'll never be at that level. He just can't take over games offensively on his own.

I don’t know how to defend him anymore. He was a defensive menace against Memphis and Golden State and I love him. But he’s inconsistent I can’t argue with that.

sweep hurts, but we went from 13th to western conference finals after we got good players. coach deserves credit, not blame.

Team didn’t play to their best ability neither before the trade nor after the trade imo. We lost so many winnable games both in regular season and playoffs. On paper, Ham did a good job because of the huge jump but he always fails to make the right calls in crunch time. Said this the last game as well; https://www.reddit.com/r/lakers/comments/13nhmaj/theres_no_way_our_fo_will_fire_darvin_scam/jkzjv6q/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3

Heat plz sweep tomorrow

That was the most unserious ending to a playoff game I’ve ever seen.

Second half was just pathetic

DLO with the unserious series. Him and Tristan Thompson scored the same amount of points today

shit bring back thompson at this rate he showed more heart than Dlo or AD

Denver proved they are the better team - their stars and role players stepped up big time. Hats off to them. Sucks that it ended the way it did but the team has alot to be proud of turning things around since the start of the season.

Darvin Ham is an offensive play calling terrorist. Man can’t draw up a play to save his life

I don't understand that last play at all. If you are going to have Lebron driving the ball, then clear out the side that he's driving on. This dumb fuck coach has two people just standing in the corner, there was zero fucking chance Lebron was ever going to get a shot up in that situation unless he was going for a step back three. Schroder's man (Murray) can just sit in the paint because there's no fucking chance Schroder is taking the last shot.

That play off the timeout was atrocious

He definitely stifles the offense when somebody like Reaves or Hachimura are on fire.

Lebron did everything and AD did everything to undo what Lebron was giving to this team

AD and fouling three-point shooters in a crucial game. Name a more iconic duo

Lebron, AD, and Dennis were all hurt. They were playing with house money. Next season they’re going to revamp and bring 18 home.

I love you, but you are not serious people

Heartbroken but Hell of a season. Defied the odds.

You cannot be mad at this.Our old as f*** superstar gives them 40. We have 3-4 playable positive players. People against the nuggets were unplayable. They were just much better. Hats off, rebuild get back to WCF

crazy that we need to rely on a 38 year old to play 48 mins to just to have a chance

WHY IS REAVES THE ONE INBOUNDING?? WHY IS HE NOT FUCKING SHOOTING FOR FCKS SAKE.

Ham is a genius

I'm not really a moral victory kind of guy but hell, you can't blame me if I consider this season a win. 0.3% chance of playing in the playoffs, Russell Westbrook, injuries, fucking name it. Yet we reached the WCF. I haven't screamed that loud for a while. It was really fun. Of course this loss stings because that's just us trying to be greedy. Our playoffs basically started post trade deadline and they gave insane effort, man. It was a great run and I, for one, happy with it. Anyways, fuck Boston.

Fuck the haters, proud of this team

Incredible turnaround by the team but my lord AD quitting on the team tonight left a sour taste in my mouth. Tristan Thompson showing more effort in an elimination game was disgusting to witness, S/O TT tho

Yeah he really disappointed quarter 1-3 And quarter 4 he showed flashes but too little too late. Unreal. He takes a good chunk of the blame for why we lost.

We legit have 2 wins if he shows up in game 2 and game 4. Instead he played horrendously and deadass looked like he quit on the team tonight

If u been in the league for 20 years u can’t be the best player on the team

Thank you Bron, get that foot surgery and let’s win next year

Thank you LBJ. 48 minutes in year 20. GOAT.

Anthony “I need to be better” Davis with the abysmal effort. Someone tell this dude that was a WCF elimination game Also that 3pt foul proved to be fatal yet again, that’s 3 times now. Dallas, Timberwolves and now in the WCF

Anybody with your head down, raise that shit up. Our guys didn't quit- they got beat by a better team, simple as that. And also Fuck the Celtics

And fuck the guys in the game thread blaming LeBron for this loss.

Himmy Butler time

All 4 of these games felt winnable. Came up *just* short every time.

Round of applause to AD for starting 2-3 then disappearing until the 4th. Took Tristan Thompson showing him up to wake his ass up. AD really was the biggest let down this series

We had 2 tries down 2

Pathetic effort by AD

I’m not even mad at Bron but this season has been a constant of fuck ups from Ham and AD, personally I say we move on from both

AD would rather Lebron be triple teamed by himself down low than touch the basketball, whatta loser. Got exposed by Jokic

Downvote me at will but, AD sold. Terrible seeing your 38 year play whole game while he is sitting his ass on the bench.plus when he was in there was 0 effort until 2-3 mins in the 4th. Embarrassing performance.

It’s going to haunt me how close every single loss felt. Go get ‘em Nuggets

A better coach with quicker adjustments and we win this series

Clipper fans celebrating like they won something 😂 maybe they'll put a banner up.

This entire team besides Bron sold this game

Reaves was OK I'd say. Rui was aggressive just couldn't find his shot. AD was absolute dogshit on offense which happens far too often

Its okay lakers in 8

Gentlemen, it's been an honor 🎻🎻🎻🎻

Get this team healthy and let’s get it back next season

Love my boys! See you all next season.

Sad way to go out, but they'll comeback stronger next season.

Sorry Bron. Screw Ham and AD. Good season. Can’t wait to see AR and Rui next year

Has has got to go. Slow ass adjustments and then those 2 plays Jesus

Darvin Ham after game 1: “We’ll be okay” Proceeds to get swept. Fuck Darvin Ham man.

Even if we got a better shot, we were gonna lose this series. Congrats to the Nuggets. They're awesome.

we had a damn good run. lots of hope for next season

I really wish they would've went at Jokic. Dude had 5 Fouls with over 5min left in the 4th.

Lebron had ad open in the corner. I believe Lebron James makes that pass 9/10 times. But, Lebron wasn’t happy with AD today if y’all noticed

Gotta find a PG upgrade (see ya DLo) and some C help this summer, this team is a few key pieces away from being a legit contender. It was a fun run all things considered, this series was way closer than it looks.

This one hurts too much. Having my dog every game watching since tip off to not having him here anymore and ending the season like this. This season gonna sting for a while.

Started season 2-10, with Westbrick, zero depth. Ended with depth, draft picks, and WCF appearance.. all with lebron playing with a torn tendon in his foot… I gotta call it a success. Lakers next season will be great

Westbrook really set this team back

AD and Bron should have never pushed for him

Fr they not blameless

AD man idk what to say. Tristan Thompson showed more heart in 5 minutes than AD did all series. Not gonna call for him to be traded but he’s not the guy who can carry LeBron in his old age like he was billed to be.

All credits to the Nuggets. They're a good all around team.

We need to have some tough discussions about AD

Can someone tell me why that out of bounce play wasn’t reviewed when it was overturned? It’s under two minutes.

Two things that have irritated me the entire playoffs: - missed shots where our players feet don’t even leave the ground attempting to rebound - Ham’s adjustments and/or lack of

At least we’ll get a banger RDC skit

Dlo wtf man

Denver is simply the better and deeper team. And Jokic is the best player in the league right now. No doubt about it

Tears

Explore AD tradws

Nuggets winning it all in 6 or less

You know I think the better team won, but it’s a pity that I feel like we could’ve closed 2 games out for a win, and we’re damn close to stealing another one. A few more tweaks and a couple lucky shots don’t fall, this team could’ve been traveling to Denver up 3-1, but instead they’re heading to Cancun. Tough loss, but they made the most out of the season. It’s also tough to see Westbrook come and destroy everything about this team. He was a vampire, and now all the contracts we have are fucked. Let’s hope it can get cleaned up and we can get healthy and make a good run next year. I’d also like to see a new coach. Ham wasn’t bad in the playoffs, but that man is not a championship level coach that we need.

Fucking D-LO 4 pts. He is the most reason we lost.

Trade AD and let’s see what we can get for him. We have a good future with the young guys we have. Lebron showed he still has it when needed and he’s a great leader. I’m thankful for AD and what he’s contributed but time and time again he’s shown inconsistency.

Lebron. Reaves. Rui. Christie. AD (if we can't trade him for anything viable) are the only Lakers on that roster that should return.

Lebron playing the long game by going for the clutch play so Reaves or Rui don’t take it to keep their value down

For those who called LeBron washed and wanted him traded can STFU

Proud of this team. 13th seed a few months ago to WCF appearance. Kudos to Denver they are a hell of a team

terrible play at the end. Hope Jamal gets crushed in finals. Good season overall.

I’m honestly just most disappointed that AD couldn’t be inspired by how lebron was playing and step up sooner than the final minutes.

Conversations need to had about AD deferring and playing extremely poorly every other game. He’s supposed to be the best player on this team but continues to shrink in big moments, forcing a 38 year old lebron to carry the load

Got no negative comments here, I'm just proud with our Lakers team for overcoming that 2-10 start and reaching the Conference Finals regardless of the outcome. Cheers, fellow Laker fans! 🍻

Tristan Thompson outplaying ad and dlow was a bit disappointing lol

Need a Pelinka masterclass this offseason

Nothing but respect for Bron, our boys Reaves and Rui, hats off to them. In regards to AD, I will be referring to him as Number 3 now. No drive, no energy, didn’t want to win. He lost all my respect. Pathetic game by him.

Idk about you guys, but I’m happy with how this season turned out. It felt like we could beat any team after the first two series, but this Nuggets team was just too sharp and consistent and had a Jokic. God, so this is what it feels like to play against a Shaq or a Kobe? Anyway, great season Lakeshow. Don’t be too salty about this series

Darvin literally just said he told Lebron to create his own play at the end. Darvin ain’t no coach. He needs to gooooo

Despite the sweep, one positive is that Reaves and Rui are the real deal. Give them the bag. Also, wtf AD

Jokic dominated boards, need a real center…..

Shout out to D Lo who had the highest +/-. We could have used him more this series

To where the season started to now not a bad season at all. I don’t think anybody would have seen this coming after our start Jokic is a beast, and considering we were the team to block him on his first try he passed all his tests this year and deserves to play for a ring Really has been a fun post season

Ham had some good games in the playoffs, but I don’t think he is the right coach for the team. I think they might keep him though since Lakers have been running through coaches lately.

Keep LethalShooter away from AD this offseason please