Reed was cut for former Nugget Shaquille Harrison, who rides the bench. The Nuggets actually sent out Bones Hyland in this deal, moving him to the Clippers and giving Lakers Davon Reed for reserve center Thomas Bryant. Former All-Star D’Angelo Russell came back with former Nuggets Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley as well as big man Mo Bamba. The Lakers sent out future Hall of Famer Russell Westbrook, who wasn’t a great fit. this season but both games came before that makeover deadline, rendering them hard to glean much from. ![]() The Lakers were a bad team for most of the season, which was remade at the trade deadline. SummaryĪfter starting 2-10 under rookie head coach Darvin Ham, the Lakers earned the seventh seed in the west with a 43-39 record and a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-in tournament. Denver has only even earned one chance to put the Lakers away, failing to win a Game 7 in the 2008 first round. But none of that changes these two franchises’ brands, seven times they’ve squared off in playoffs and the Lakers have won all seven. If the Nuggets are able to recapture the magic that propelled them to the Western Conference Finals last season, that will be their best chance to do so.A ton has changed since 2020 between these two clubs but a ton has changed even since the trade deadline for the Lakers. The extent to which Denver is able to take advantage of the softer, meaty part of that home-road-home sandwich will go a long way in determining not only their postseason seeding, but in shaping the team that they are when they roll into the playoffs for their third consecutive season. The Nuggets have had to fight through adversity this season, as has every team in the league, but the months of March and April present them with a great opportunity to work through points of emphasis, reintegrate players returning from injury absences and continue developing chemistry between the team’s newer and longer-tenured players. ![]() And although Denver’s final four games are against teams which currently have negative net ratings, they will all be played on the road, somewhat offsetting a potential advantage there. The heavy concentration of games at the end of the schedule is something head coach Michael Malone and his staff should keep in mind as Nikola Jokic is sixth in the NBA in minutes per game at 36.0, while Jamal Murray is 16th at 35.4.Īdditionally, some of the Nuggets’ most formidable opponents are clustered into the closing segment of the schedule, including the three aforementioned top teams in the West along with an Eastern Conference title contender in the Brooklyn Nets. In a season marred by injuries and largely defined by a drastically-shortened offseason which deprived deep-run playoff teams like the Nuggets of sufficient rest, Denver has already been facing fatigue issues. This contrasts heavily with the 27 games preceding that final stretch, in which just five, or about 19%, are “SEGABABAs,” In Denver’s final 13 games, four of them, or about 30%, will be played on the second night of a back-to-back. ![]() In addition to the Nuggets playing seven of their final nine games on the road including their last four, a relatively tough slate of opponents along with a higher frequency of games played on the second nights of back-to-backs. A Perfect Storm Of Challenges Forms To Make A Tough Closing Schedule As Denver looks to position itself for playoff seeding, this will elevate the importance of banking wins during the softer portion of the schedule, a point which is driven home further by additional factors. The two bookends of the remaining schedule on either end of that home-heavy stretch, marked by the Nuggets’ two remaining road trips, include just two games at home out of 14. The Nuggets will no doubt be hoping that this will provide them with fertile ground for the team to make the necessary readjustments as players return from injury, and if there are any personnel changes resulting from deadline trades. Of the 26 Nuggets games spanning from March 13 versus the Dallas Mavericks to April 29 against the Toronto Raptors, a full 18 of them, or about 70%, will be played at Ball Arena on Denver’s home court. The three home stretches clumping together in the middle of the second half of Denver’s schedule creates the effect of a road-home-road “sandwich” that emerges clearly when we zoom out on the first schedule image above. Denver Nuggets - Remaining 2020-21 Regular Season Schedule Breakdown-Annotated Data via Basketball-Reference
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