The matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets is one that the entire world is waiting for with eager and nervous anticipation. LA never managed to get the upper hand against the Nuggets (0-3) this season. For obvious reasons, of course. The list is long and not one the Lakers fans would like to go back to consult. But that hasn’t stopped LeBron James and Co. from avoiding the reigning champions in the playoffs. And now, ahead of the first round, James has taken to giving Denver’s superstar Nikola Jokic his due flowers.

Talking to the media before the practice for Game 1, he said, “When you have the ability to score at will, it makes your passing even more dynamic. We’ve had great passers in our league history. We’ve had great guys that are very unselfish.”

“But if that’s all you can do, then teams can try to force you to score and kind of take that away. Guys like Luka, Magic in his prime, Joker, myself. If you try to take away our passing, we can still be effective. That’s what makes us so dynamic.” For James to put Jokic on the same level of greatness as the 5x champion Magic and himself goes to show the respect he has for the Serbian center. After all, it does take a level of humbleness to admit and appreciate the remarkable skills of his colleague. But that’s not all LeBron is focused on ahead of the playoffs.

“It shouldn’t be personal at all”: LeBron James on keeping his head in the game

When a reporter asked about the level of confidence the Lakers hold right now, despite the Nuggets sweeping the regular season series and last year’s Western Conference Finals, James somewhat took offense. He then went on to set a boundary. But the diplomatic King that he is, James turned it into a mini-class. “It shouldn’t be personal at all. I think you allow yourself to get away from the game plan when you make it too personal,” he said.

“It’s how long you can just keep your mind even-keeled and keep the main thing the main thing,” Bron concluded. With so many naysayers and haters keeping up how LA should have simply lost to the Pelicans just to avoid the Denver clash, the team needs to stay locked in.

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As Gabe Vincent said, “They [Nuggets] force a team to play a certain way.” So, it’s not simply a physical challenge to contain the ‘Joker’ or figure out ploys against the two-man game of Jokic-Murray. There is also a mental problem-solving aspect attached to Coach Malone’s super-fine team.

Head Coach Darvin Ham and LeBron James both agreed that the team needed to be better all around. While the self-inflicted errors from last year’s playoffs and the 24-point loss would still be on their mind, D-Lo also made it clear there was no extra preparation for this game.

Amid them trying to calm all the nerves and publicly approach this as normally as possible, there is no doubt that the Lakers are coming with a bone to pick and Jokic is very aware of it. The Lakers vs Nuggets series can’t begin soon enough!