It seems miraculous and possibly too good to be true, but it is now a reality: The Los Angeles Lakers are heading to the Western Conference Finals for only the second time since 2010 and the first time since then outside of the Walt Disney World Resort bubble.
They got here thanks to several midseason trades, a never-say-quit attitude throughout the season and a Game 6 dismantling of the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the playoffs on Friday.
In the conference finals, L.A. will meet the Denver Nuggets and a potent cast that is led by center Nikola Jokic, who won the NBA’s last two regular season MVPs prior to this year.
In some ways, it could be seen as a rematch of the 2020 Western Conference Finals, which the Purple and Gold won in five games, but both teams look somewhat different this time around.
While the Nuggets still have Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. from their 2020 squad, only LeBron James and Anthony Davis remain from the 2020 Lakers team that won the world championship.
Denver has the home-court advantage, which will present a challenge to James and crew in the form of the altitude of the Mile High City. On the other hand, if L.A. manages to win one of the first two games, it could take control of the series afterward, as the next two contests would be at Crypto.com Arena where it hasn’t lost since late March.
Game 1 of the series will take place on Tuesday, May 16 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, and subsequent games will take place every other day. Here is the full schedule:
Here’s the WCF schedule for Lakers-Nuggets: pic.twitter.com/yh2Xbi4tnL
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) May 13, 2023
Get ready for what should be an exciting and competitive series.
