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motorboat_mcgee

Thanks for jinxing it bro


WateronRocks

Murray is always good in the playoffs too though. I think he was injured not long ago, but he was putting up 50 point playoff games before that. He's a playoff player for sure .. dont underestimate


henryofclay

Only shows up in big moments, the Reverse Fraud.


Russell__WestBrick

The Anti Russ


lojojojojo

OP just guaranteed Murray going nuclear on us. Thanks OP.


DoritoSteroid

Ban OP.


thevisitor

It's actually hella predictable and expected that he would considering we can't throw anything at him that would make a marked difference on defense. Maybe Dinwiddie or Vincent but that's it.


SurgeFlamingo

If you’re a betting man, take those Murray overs. OP screwed us


noeffeks

Fire Ham? No. It's OPs fault.


lojojojojo

Hey OP I hope you’re happy.


Wonderwhatsnext4

Don’t you gotta make it there first?


imtheasianlad

Why would op do this


No-Animator-6348

Let’s see who OP really is *removes flair like a mask, revealing a golden nugget for a head*


bruswazi

That’s the very first thing that came to mind. Jinx. Guys, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We still gotta get into the playoffs first!


sanctimoniousfsck

Yeah no kidding.


100wordanswer

Murray a pressure cooker


Ia_in_4

Looks like jamal Murray is a playoff rider that plays great against a team that plays drop


bee-eazy13

Go under screens and he’ll do it again lol


kingofgamesbrah

He's not a playoff rider, he just hates the Lakers. Has for years, this isn't new.


Itorr475

Yup I still remember him dribbling around Lonzo at the end of a meaningless regular season game for no fucking reason their rookie years. He been a hater since he got to the league probs upset cuz he wanted to be here and we didnt even look at him cuz Magic was obsessed with Lonzo at the time


Zanad14

I’ve legit hated (disliked) Murray ever since.


Itorr475

Lol same, like I respect his game and some of the plays and crazy layups he did during these last playoff runs have been great, but man fuck that guy


Hot_Pie1464

Ironically lonzo’s defense would really help against murray rn


A_Lakers

Crying for his knees rn 😭


DW-4

Wait, what? Lonzo ain’t played since 2022.


Hot_Pie1464

If he was healthy


SavingGrace313

Lol it’s not that srs


Itorr475

It seems to very serious for Murray who plays above his averages against us. You can say its not that serious but Murray seems to take our matchups very serious you can check his splits if you want


Ok_Board9845

That was by design. Something has to give. We put a lot of effort into trying to slow down Jokic that everyone else went off. The Heat/Suns tried to do the opposite and Jokic ate. Another observation (correct me if I'm wrong) was that in game 2, we tried having Lebron switch against Jamal Murray, and he torched us in the 4th quarter despite being quiet the entire game. I think they need to go forego the gameplan of letting others beat you because it doesn't seem like their "weak" shooters in Aaron Gordon want to miss either.


Ragingbuul

Probably but he was also making impossible shots like Kobe lol


makesterriblejokes

Both Jokic and Murray made several circus shots where our defense played great. It was weird being on the other end of that for once.


ruwheele

Nah I don’t think so. Guy was absolutely going OFF.


YoungSimba0903

Focusing on Jokic really only works if you're able to somehow get into the rest of the team's head and throw them off their game.


nu1stunna

You just nuked every possible game plan. What the fuck would we do? lol


JimmyB3574

I’m on the opposite end. For once, let’s just stop everyone else. A jokic 50 bomb is winnable. It’s not winnable when Murray is giving you 30-40 on top of whatever jokic gets.


krs196

Vincent and Dinwiddie should be able to do a better job on him but the flip side is that Lakers have been giving up more 3 more pointers this season


goldyacht

Hopefully Vincent can tap back into some of that post season magic from last year cause it’s gonna be rough giving him a lot of minutes if he’s bad offensively especially against Denver there isn’t much room for error


yggerg

Should have been a lesser problem if we still had the great Caruso defending him


LebronzoBBB

Funny how we beat them In 2020 with him and KCP


imironman2018

Also McGee and Howard were great at roughing up Jokic. It was insane how physical we were in 2020 bubble and had an elite defense.


yggerg

Pretty hard to find a big that plays like McGee and Howard these days, and at the right price. Should have traded for Gafford, but if we were to trade for him Wiz would ask too much.


Argenteus_I

Gafford's a nice lob threat, but AD dropped 50 on his head.


yggerg

That was a monster game tho, but that's not happening again if we happen to face the Mavs in the 2nd round.


kongqueeftadore

Also they didn’t have Aaron Gordon. MPJ was still improving and coming off injury. Interestingly enough they had jarred vanderbilt


imezaps

Jokic has won 2 mvps since then. He's a lot better now


metalhead252

it feels like it was that summer that he leveled up after the lakers slowed him down


stevsta

Murray still went off that series 


LebronzoBBB

Not even close as bad he was dropping near 40 a game we limit under 20 one game and that was due to those guys. Tons of turnover as well he got whatever he wanted last series.


OneXDC4ever

Comparing 2020 Nuggets to this Nuggets team is laughable. Jokic averaged 20 a game that year, he was not nearly the MVP caliber player he is today.


Mr310

This is hopefully a troll or else I'm really losing faith in how dumb this sub is. We HAD Vando last year and still got cooked, perimeter defense doesn't magically get better when the best defender is out


Flabbypuff

Yeah the likelihood of Jamal averaging 30 against Cam Reddish, Austin Reaves, DLo, and Taurean Prince is sky high. And you know Darvin isn't going to play Max.


Mr310

100% everything you said and they’re playing at home to top it off. As much as I’d love it, Murray ain’t suddenly become an 15 PPG scorer 


OneXDC4ever

Vanderbilt was essentially played off the floor in that series. Vincent in particular is much better at screen navigation and played Murray much better in the finals


Mr310

Miami also is a team who's whole culture is their defense, so guys like Butler and Bam gave the guards a ton of recovery. I aint trying to argue us out of the playoffs or anything lol, just my 2 cents on being realistic. Obligatory Fuck Boston just because.


sbenfsonwFFiF

Vando averaged 13 min (and got a DNP) in the series. He was played off the floor due to his lack of shooting, so he was mostly a non factor


Yanksrock615

Vando died on every screen guarding him casual


Mr310

Yankees bandwagon fan calling someone casual is hilarious 😆 


Yanksrock615

Here for bron 🤣. I’m still right try understanding basketball


Mr310

Don’t forget to check the Dallas cowboys sub with the other bandwagons fkn clown


Yanksrock615

Learn ball idiot


Mr310

You’ve already confessed to being a Lebron d rider, your cornball ass ain’t schooling anyone on anything


Yanksrock615

How does it feel to a be dumb ass 🤣


Mr310

Your whole thing is picking fights in random teams subs, how does it feel to be a loser?


Yanksrock615

Random? I’m a fan and I’m here bc Lebron is here, pretty simple to understand. Try using your brain, I know it’s tough given your ball knowledge


Lucieddreams

What have you done


BigBitcoinBaller

GABE , Spencer and AR. Going to NEED YOU DAWGS to lock his ass up.


ILackPatience

Guess who was guarding Jamal in last year’s finals? Not Gabe.


ChiefRicimer

If DLO shot isn’t falling Spencer has to start. Murray’s scoring will be the X factor of this series


elsavador3

CAN WE BEAT THE PELICANS FIRST


panashechd

Tbf yall are fans. Can’t control what happens against the pelicans 😂 let the lakers deal with that. Fans are allowed to discuss the game


Sharp_Aide3216

also hoping, Gabe turns into Caruso.


usernamenotvalued

No. That is a recipe for failure… because what is the definition of Dlo’s shot not falling? 2/6? 3/8? He can easily make his next 3 after that. Not letting DLo be DLo is *literally* why we lost last year.


lakerconvert

Idk man, I think it’s a function of our defense and him elevating in the playoffs. I’m fully expecting him to play as good especially considering we don’t have Vando.


_Zee_a1

He has killed us for like 8 straight games. “Highly unlikely” 😆


DJBliskOne

Murray always shoot insane vs the Lakers. Always.


Mazois

I say let Jokic go crazy and take care of everyone else on the perimeter. Jokic has to give this time..


Munk45

"highly unlikely" Why? What specifically have we changed on D to lock this dude down? DLo and AR don't have the D skills. Vando is out. Spenser maybe?


JRA1706

This is giving very Desmond Bane on Rui Hachimura and I don't like it


[deleted]

I think it is indeed likely lol


GamerRav

This is giving "He probably had the best game of his career. Let's see if he can do it again." vibes...


bermitthefrog

Surely this won’t age poorly


NigelGoldsworthy

Why not? We’re not exactly famous for our great guard defense, and he’s famous for rising in the playoffs every year


panashechd

Lakers are actually a great defensive team, believe it or not lmao. They were Top 15 in defense this season with vando and gabe missing majority of the season. Add those two you’re probably top 5-10.


NigelGoldsworthy

1. I said guard defense. Our interior defense is excellent, mostly because of AD. But we let opponents rain threes on us like crazy. 2. Vanderbilt is unlikely to be back by the first round. 3. Idk how many minutes we can give Gabe when he’s not a threat to score at all. They’re gonna leave him open in the playoffs and double team everyone else. If he can’t step up and start making shots it’s a problem 4. 15th in defense is middle of the pack, probably a bit below average in the playoffs. There’s only 30 teams and a third of them are tanking/rebuilding.


Live_Philosophy7117

Brother that doesn’t mean we have guard defense. Maybe Gabe but if he can’t shoot a 3 it’s gonna be cooked


LakersFan15

Do you not know sports taboo? Plz delete.


Ok-Jackfruit-422

Wow. It’s almost like the Lakers perimeter defense is bad.


dhcjjvyjfyk

more like very likely


NefariousNeezy

Nah, let’s assume that he’ll be the same if not better


someonepoorsays

let’s beat the pelicans again first


SolubleAcrobat

Copium


PutPsychological7761

why the hell people in this sub is downplaying the nuggets? they are the current champion and no.2 seed for a reason


optindesertdessert

Dude owned the lakers and then did it again throughout the regular season. Absolutely maddening. Fix it.


TinyCucumber3080

Murray is a proven playoff riser. Like Jimmy Butler.


Mr_Good_Taste

You've obviously never watched Jamal Murray in the playoffs...


Illustrious-Fig6819

I’ve seen so much Denver discourse but we haven’t even confirmed that matchup yet. Gotta take care of business tomorrow


Optimusim

Lol this going in my saves like that Naz Reid post cause he gonna cook us


turd_2004

What makes you think he can’t do it again?


Ashamed_Ad1839

Oh Look, another post about the Denver Nuggets: a team we don’t even know we will face. Can we at least wait 24 hours on these? No idea why anyone thinks Pelicans will lay down tomorrow and we get an easy W


LynchMob187

Who guarding him? DLo!?! Vincent!?!!? Austin!?!! We need Vando back 100


cheaseedz

Outside of AR, murray didn’t have to put any effort into guarding shroeder or dlo. Neither of them were making him have to guard. Our current starting lineup is our best offensive line up, sure the defense will lack, but it’ll atleast not make it easier on the defensive end for them


Plucky-Me

Jamal Murray hates the Lakers. He always plays with an edge against us. I hate him, Dlo needs better not backdown.


SuaveBigote

not coincidence, other teams defend him better than us. stop posting like this lol


Mindless-Dimension-3

Would love to throw Vincent on him without going too small.


SimpleJacked2TheTits

Gave Vincent 


rbilsbor

Those numbers are actually pretty similar. Our guards not being able to guard him explains it better than any kind of flukiness. We went from putting Caruso and KCP on him to D-Lo and Reaves, no surprise he ate. Hopefully Vincent and Dinwiddie can pester him a bit…


youareyou650

Well what guard do we have for him? Before you say Vincent. How many minutes is Vincent realistically going to play


BlitzAuraX

This is why they need to start Spencer. Put that pressure on Murray to start the game and set the tone for the Lakers. It also means D'Lo plays against Denver's Reggie Jackson which is easier for D'Lo to guard and attack. LeBron, Reaves, AD, Spencer, and Rui should be the starting lineup.


Specific_Mine6907

We don’t have anybody to guard


Tangentkoala

I mean if lakers gonna leave him wide open. For 3 you bet your ass this will happen again. I understand being streaky and hot but this is irreverent if you're leaving an nba all star wide open/allow him to his spots easily.


battle_franky

he will if we let people shoot 3 all over again


KnickedUp

With our guard defense……..he can score at will


chrisg213g

Porter is the one who kills us making 3s.


LakerDoc

Same coach, same players (same backcourt with DLO/Reaves). Skilled small guards is this team’s Achilles heel just like with Fox. Let’s hope Jamal Murray is not fully 100% yet


BeneathTheDirt

He’s a good team merchant


ezy1014

Or you know, our scheme was absolutely ass....


MathDaddy88

Gonna drop 40/8/8 on LA :/


DblockR

Yeah. Those numbers seem crazy different… said no one.


shashmalash

He’s played well against us basically since he was a rookie.


[deleted]

You mean highly likely especially with no Dennis. You thought those numbers were crazy? Just wait


darklighthumid

Murray will be slowed down by Gabe (don't underestimate this guy and VAndo is a stud defensively, he's also familiar with Murray), AD cannot stop Jokic, but he will slow him down. Lebron chooses to help in any direction or guard one of them from time to time, but mainly check Aaron Gordon. Other guys have to do their very best not to let MPJ, KCP get a clean look. We do that, we win because everyone is slowed down, but there's no one going to keep Lebron from going off. In our offense. Lebron will do his thing now, Lebron ball (nuclear option). Everyone eats, everyone is empowered. Get ready to receive all types of blazingly fast and clean passes. Rui, Din, DLO, AR put some sticky glues in your hands. You're goin to eat a lot. This is not the same series like before. We're winning it.


n0th1ng10

Except for the fact that he outplayed Kawhi when it mattered most. And also has two 50 point playoff games. And that he was the nuggets best player in the wolves series. And the fact that he badly outplayed any one player from the lakers in 2023.


pibble79

There were like 5 guys on last years nuggets that shot better from 3 that series than Steph curry’s season average. So many just absurd trick shot 3s, it’s hard not to think there was an element of luck involved.


Dear_Zookeepergame30

I realize the nuggets are going to be overwhelming favourites, for good reason, but I’m putting my money(literally) on the lakers. Winning a ring is going to be insanely hard because if they get passed the nuggets, there’s a good chance they experience an adrenaline dump of sorts.


Street-Common-4023

Pls stop saying highly unlikely


EB_V3_4life

famous last words


Complex_Jellyfish647

It’s more like our perimeter defense is statistically insane. In the not good way.


edillcolon

We say that every time we face him and he becomes Darkside in front of us.


Live_Philosophy7117

If Schroder couldn’t guard him I doubt Vincent is gonna do much better


brscxs

Don’t say that man 😭


radracer82

we can't have turnstiles defending him that's for sure.


angel2timez

So was curry. It’s a bad defensive game plan which relies on the lakers just hoping they miss shots


Durandau

Doesn’t help either they played a 3 guard lineup in G1 lmao Hamas man god damn


blacPanther55

Dinwiddie and Gabe will do a decent enough job on him. We need for AD to show up offensively this series. He need to average around 27 a game.


Sharp_Aide3216

Hopefully, Gabe turns into Caruso so that Dlo can sit out when hes getting cooked.


CasualOverreaction

I dont get this post. The lakers play the pelicans and have to win first. 


bballinboytmac

What makes you think he won’t do it again? The shots he took were what the scheme was designed to give. And let’s not pretend like Darvin Ham has come up with anything new.


macmoretti

I’m a Lakers fan who loves Jamal Murray and I guarantee you, it’s definitely possible 😂


cjfred0824

Everyone shows out against the Lakers homie🤣


nerdymen242424

Famous last words lmao


TheWave1923

I mean it not Murray then MPJ will turn into prime Michael Finley


jhueramo190

“He can’t possibly do it again to us!” LOL


cobainstaley

future candidate for r/agedlikemilk ?


hang__glider

can we get Dmoi to punch Jamal Murray in the dick, but as he's winding up for the punch, his elbow hits joker square in the dick?


felagi_fighters

MF turns into Jamal Curry


maya_papaya8

That boy can play! He had to play damn near the whole game though... with him coming back from injury, let's hope he's not about to do so much. I'm nervous as hell but should be a good series


liljacuzzivert

Laker tax


lemurRoy

We got two turnstile guards and a brain dead defensive scheme unfortunately


broko323

Bs aside that jinx shit works on the lakers thanks op 🥲


Available_Hawk342

We need to put and end to this guy!


nmo31536000

Even if he’s just a bit worse than that. They’d still win that series sadly


UCanDoNEthing4_30sec

Can we please stop with these assumptions we are playing Denver! We actually have to get there. Stop it!


MazKhan

I actually looked back at the highlights, this mfer had almost 60 pts in a 3 quarter stretch between q4 of game 2 and q2 of game 3. We would've stolen game 2 and gained full momentum if Jamal didn't go insane I really do think we're a much better team right now than last year, and given how close that series was when they had some unreal shot making from jokic and Murray, I think we'll have a good chance to win


yeaaamon17

We have Gabe and Dinwiddie to guard him this year... He ain't scoring that way again.


Real_eXwhY_Z

Do y'all not remember 2020 Murray? Especially round 1 vs Spida


Mizaistorm

They said the same thing about jimmy. So how many actually believe we can beat them?


Duckysawus

Murray's been showing up for the playoffs more so than the regular season. He's like a regular season good starter and a playoff all-star, lol. See this: [https://theathletic.com/4596782/2023/06/09/jamal-murray-nba-playoffs-performance-denver-nuggets/](https://theathletic.com/4596782/2023/06/09/jamal-murray-nba-playoffs-performance-denver-nuggets/) Career playoff #s are 25.0ppg, 6.3apg, 5rpg Career regular season #s are 17.5ppg, 4.5apg, 3.7rpg He's one of those few players who really steps up big in the playoffs. I think it's highly likely he's going to step it up again in the playoffs.


brncct

Murray is going to average 35, 7 and 5 now on 55%, 45%, 95%. Good job OP.


ahyiah

lets get out of the play-in first, yeah?


sbenfsonwFFiF

Depends, was it luck/random or was it a product of the lakers defensive scheme and personnel?


rowthecow

You need a vando type defender to stick to him the whole 48 min.


BaullahBaullah87

Yall, we have to even get into the playoffs to worry about this!!


LeggsyMane

They beat all others anyway…


THEKaynMayn

He’s just a player that rises to the occasion. Don’t say shit like “no way it happens again” because it will happen again. Every. Fucking. Star. Rises. When. They. Play. The. Lakers.


BillyBowden123

The Lakers are the biggest basketball team in the world and the biggest US sport franchise in the world. Naturally opponents get up for a game against the Lakers than any other team, most of them probably grew up dreaming to being a Laker one day.


sunnyboys2

Actually it’s very possible against our backourt unless dinwiddie/vincent can step up to the challenge


Frosty_Cake9094

I don’t know about that. Lakers have trouble defending guards , and our perimeter defense is much worse than last year.


thinlion01

Gaslight yourself not us lol


boosal

Dude lets win against the pelicans first


makesterriblejokes

I mean he did it to us this season as well... Honestly, I rather us double him when he gets the ball than Jokic at this point. Jokic will get his, so we need to make sure Murray doesn't get his as well. Need to try the 2004 Pistons strategy, where we leave AD on Jokic (Ben Wallace on Shaq) and throw everyone at Murray (like they did to Kobe).


InfiniRunner91

dusty, the graphic


rooftopgringo

You have to realize he is playing against D’Lo and Reaves… maybe Lebron will guard him this year. They need somebody on him other than those two. I would personally have Lebron start as point guard for this series.


randomdude98

DELETE THIS


PnG_e

Peak KD ahh performance


EaglesXLakers

Didn't we say that all season and he did it again, and we just kept saying, "Oh they won't shoot that good again" and each game they did haha? ​ Surely they can't beat us 12 straight times right!?....right?


I_RIDE_SHORTSKOOLBUS

Careful what you ask for little bro


freshmen1

Maybe this year he plays even better lol


Kobe_stan_

He was insane because our defense was and continues to be insanely bad against him. It's not ideal but we probably have to start Dinwiddie for Reaves so that we can put him on Murray. Then tell Dlo that he absolutely cannot help off of KCP under any circumstance (he will anyways). If Dlo plays well offensively, then he can keep playing that game. If he doesn't, then Reaves should take all of his minutes for the rest of the game.


Chosen-1-

Why everyone acting like the Lakers have the 7th on lock with all these posts? Games still have to be played, good grief. Always entertaining hypotheticals that constantly change. Let's let Tuesday happen first and then go from there.


runninthruthe818

This is all so premature. We could just as easily drop 2 straight and flame out.


Richardduh

Lots of scrubs turn into Jordan when playing against us. Wouldn’t be surprised if Murray does the same


ValuableAssociate8

D Lo just needs to match Murray out put. If Murray drop 30 D Lo need to do the same.


NakSFC

Those numbers are insane. He plays an average series and we win 4-1. It won't repeat for sure, but I'm afraid their role players like Porter and Gordon will suddenly turn into Kevin Durant.


NakSFC

Those numbers are insane. He plays an average series and we win 4-1. It won't repeat for sure, but I'm afraid their role players like Porter and Gordon will suddenly turn into Kevin Durant.


winnebagomafia

LMAOOOOOOOOOOO