I think everyone has learned a valuable lesson here, it is okay to duck smoke. The Lakers should have ducked the smoke of playing the nuggets, but they could not put their pride aside. And now they are going to be eliminated in the first round, and most likely be swept by the Nuggets once again. Would never happen to me. No, no, no. You see if I was the coach or leader of the Lakers, I would’ve ducked the smoke of playing the nuggets so far it would’ve looked like a game of limbo. (Is Limbo a game? Maybe a round?)
And what is wrong with ducking the smoke I might add? Is it such a cowardly thing to try and avoid the defending champs? Play against a much younger inexperienced team that the Lakers would have easily dominated? Make sure you actually win a series and don’t get eliminated in the first round? Too many people confusing ducking smoke with being smart nowadays, including the Lakers! *I would like to note that Darvin Ham is such an idiot there is no way for the Lakers to be smart while he is running the team, even if they would’ve ducked the smoke and played the Thunder. *
0-10
This right here should have been every reason to duck the smoke in the first place. The Lakers were never going to win this series against the Nuggets. People are going to say “Oh its only 0-2, they can still come back.”
You want to believe it to be true, but deep down, in your heart of hearts, you know the series is over. And that’s okay, acceptance means you’re on the right path. But do you truly want to know why the series is over? It is because the Lakers are starring in their very own version of the movie Groundhog Day. If you have never seen Groundhog Day, let me sum it up for you (as someone who also has not seen it.) It stars Bill Murray, and he keeps having the same day over and over again until he finally changes his habits or something, and then by the end his life goes back to normal and he does not live the same day over and over again anymore. The end.
You see the Lakers are nowhere near the end of their Groundhog Day movie. Don’t believe me?
Think back to the Western Conference Finals last year, Lakers leading in majority of games, only to blow a lead in the second half and get swept. I watched game two last night with my friend who is a die hard nuggets fan (shout out Ray) and he was concerned because the Lakers seemed like they were hitting every shot in the first half. I was shocked, surprised even, that he had this reaction. I told him he had nothing to be stressed about, we’re watching the same game as game one. And sure enough, I was right. Another lead erased, Darvin Ham making dumb decision after dumb decision;
And what do you know? The Nuggets secure another victory, just as they have for the last 10 games against the Lakers. (Sidenote: the dumbest decision I watched in real time from Darvin Ham was not using a single timeout when he had 4 ((FOUR)) in the 3rd quarter. The Nuggets went on an 11-0 run over 4:30 of gameplay. 4:30 OF GAMEPLAY! How do you not make a single adjustment to stop Denver’s run?!? Also moving away from the Lebron and Anthony Davis pick and roll which was killing the Nuggets in the early third quarter, and sticking with Dinwiddie and Vincent down the stretch over DLO was absolutely baffling.)
And that my friends, is all there is to it. If you tune in for games 3, and 4, which you should because Lebron James is still doing out of this world shit on the basketball court, like this:
You will start to notice that the feeling of the next two games, are going to seem a lot like the first two. You will see the Lakers get out to an early lead and you may start to believe that they actually might get the job done. Only to realize around the third quarter that you have already seen this movie before, and you know how it ends. A Nuggets comeback, another Lakers loss, and you will come to the conclusion that the smoke should indeed have been ducked.
