Los Angeles Lakers fan Dakota Taylor, left, talks to his friend Denver Nuggets fan Caiden Orosco while waiting in line to enter Ball Arena before the Denver Nuggets play the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs of the NBA at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday, April 20, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Dwayne Wells believesbaby.
He thinks his Lakers are in Cherry Creek. Without a paddle.
“Even though I’m a Lakers fan, it’ll probably be Nuggets in six, low-key,” Wells, an Air Force man and Los Angeles fanatic from Clovis, New Mexico, told me as we shuddered at Ball Arena one hour before the first game. of the Nuggets-Lakers.
“I hate it, man. (Nikola) Jokic last year was really crazy and (expletive) left me. And (Jamal) Murray was crazy too. Oh my God. But both of them – and Michael Porter Jr. could disappear.
“I mean, we could get two (wins). But I’m just going (to Game 1) for the experience. I already know the result, in my head.
Punters too. As of Saturday afternoon, the reigning NBA champions were still favorites to win the nasty Western Conference (FanDuel: +310, DraftKings.com, +300) by a healthy margin over Oklahoma City (+1300, +1600); Dallas (+1,500, +1,600); and Minnesota (+1900, +2200). LeBron or no LeBron.
“They’re terrifying, let’s put it that way,” Lakers fan Skyler Hertz told me Saturday before tip-off. “It’s the only series that would worry me in the West, that’s for sure. I’m not worried about OKC or Minnesota. (The Nuggets) deserved first place in the West this year.
Hertz and his wife, Loren, drove to our fair city from Grant, Iowa, population 83, an hour down a long, lonely highway east of Omaha.
“Because I’ve always been a LeBron fan,” Skyler explained. “I just follow him around until he’s done.”
So, one more year? Two?
“I think he’s going to do one more,” Hertz responded. “It’s tough. He’s going to do one. But he’s going to keep it quiet about it. I don’t think he’s going to make a whole goodbye deal.
A few feet away, Dakotah Taylor of Colorado Springs waited for the doors to open in a purple Lakers jersey while his buddy Caiden Orosco took on the blue of the Nuggets.
“Lakers in 4,” Taylor said.
“For what?” I asked.
“Karma,” he replied.
“What word would you use to describe the Nuggs this year?
Pause.
“Boring,” Taylor replied.
“So no, ‘Terrifying’.”
“If it wasn’t ‘boring,’ I’d say ‘Little Brother,'” he laughed. “Because they’ve only beaten us once in the playoffs in their entire existence. And they think they are now God’s greatest gift.
“Let’s give one,” Orosco interjected. “We can have one.”
Taylor shook his head.
I reminded both men that the history of Nuggets-Lakers in the playoffs says that the top seed always came out on top in the end.
“All we have to do,” replied Taylor, “is steal one here.”
Good luck with that.
“They’re scary, okay?” Wells said. “They are scary.”
“So, sort of, ‘Terrifying’.”
“Because of this man named Nikola Jokic. And that’s all you need. Oh my God. That’s all you need. This man is the franchise right there.
“And I respected them last year. And I feared them last year. But I had kind of the same thought last year. But I respect them more now. Especially with the ring they won last year and all that. I definitely respect them more than last year.
Hertz declared the Lakers in 6.
Look at this.
He hope Lakers in 6.
“Four to two, Lakers,” he continued. “And the only reason I say that is because they meet them a lot earlier (in the playoffs) and LeBron is a lot healthier. And (D’Angelo Russell) wasn’t even a factor last year and he is this year.
“So it’s going to be a lot better than last year.” It will certainly be much better than last year’s Western Conference Finals.
But the weather for the first match?
Not really.
“I’m here for the experience,” Wells said through chattering teeth. “I feel like I know the outcome of this.” But I will support my team. And get through the heartbreak.
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