“Did all that to get swept first round” – LeBron James’ Lakers book a first-round date with Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets after play-in win over the Pelicans, fans react

The Los Angeles Lakers have lost their previous 7 games against the Denver Nuggets.

“Did all that to get swept first round” – LeBron James’ Lakers book a first-round date with Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets after play-in win over the Pelicans, fans react

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to battle against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets after tonight's win against New Orleans Pelicans

Today the first of the big play in battles commenced with the Los Angeles Lakers taking on the younger New Orleans Pelicans in a bid to cement each other’s playoff seedings. After a terrific game, LeBron James and his teammates prevailed and, in the process, confirmed themselves as the 7th seed.

However, fans are concerned about how the Lakers will perform in the first round of the playoffs, especially considering that Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have won every game against the Lakers in the past year.

Many analysts brought up theories that the Lakers would look to avoid their kryptonite, that is the Denver Nuggets. This means that there was a high chance they throw this game away and look at potentially taking on the 8th seed.

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A playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder is considered a much easier task for the Lakers, than the Nuggets. However, the Lakers did not want to play a do-or-die game against either the Sacramento Kings or more importantly, the Golden State Warriors.

LeBron James and his Lakers chose to take their chances against the Nuggets rather than play for a 50-50 chance. They went into today’s game, locked in. That focus helped them as they overcame the New Orleans Pelicans to win the game 110-106.

Certain factors did help the Lakers, such as Zion Williamson leaving the game in the last few minutes due to a leg injury. Then there was the bad shooting night from almost everyone else on the Pelicans roster.

LeBron James and Nikola Jokic’s first-round battle has fans shaking their heads

Ever since the Western Conference Finals last year, the Denver Nuggets led by Finals MVP Nikola Jokic have won 7 straight games against the Los Angeles Lakers. More importantly, the Lakers had no answer to the defending champions, even though their last two meetings were at the Crypto.com arena. This time, the Nuggets have the home-court advantage.

Therefore, basketball followers are wondering if the Lakers will exit the playoffs again at the hands of the Western Conference powerhouse. They had to give their two cents after today’s game on social media, some examples of which are below:

The entire basketball community knows that the Lakers have a daunting task ahead. However, LeBron James and his teammates have been on a good run over the past 2 months. How well that run pays off will be unveiled next week.

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