4 things the Nuggets must do to sweep the Lakers out of the playoffs again

1. Attack Russell and Reaves relentlessly

One huge matchup the Nuggets can create is attacking their starting guards, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves. This backcourt has helped the Lakers come on in the second half of the season, especially on offense. But neither of these players are big or good defenders, so the Nuggets need to punish them on that end.

Jamal Murray is a nightmare matchup for either one of those guys, and he basically rendered Russell unplayable in last year’s series. This needs to be the case yet again. The Lakers are going to need the scoring and offense that these two provide, so the Nuggets have to make sure they are very intentional about going at them until the Lakers adjust.

If they have to go with more defensive lineups and bring in players like Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, and Jarred Vanderbilt that would be a huge win for Denver as that would be a big step down for the LA offense. Without Reaves and Russell, the Lakers are going to struggle to score and create offense.

In the playoffs, everything boils down to matchups and mismatches. Murray going against the Laker guards might be the biggest mismatch in the whole series and the Nuggets need to pick at it like a scab until it bleeds.