3 Reasons why Denver Nuggets ended Los Angeles Lakers’ cinderella run
By Ryan McCrary
Red hot shooting and offensive rebounding
The Denver Nuggets played at a very high level as a team vs. the Lakers, and they were great in two key areas: perimeter shooting and offensive rebounding.
The Nuggets shot extremely well from three and from mid-range vs. the Lakers. They took 144 total three-pointers throughout the entire series, and they made 40.3% of their shots from downtown.
Four of their six players who played at least 100 minutes in the conference finals hit 40% of their threes, and only Aaron Gordon shot below league average from three. Three-point variance is extremely important in the playoffs, so the Nuggets shooting this well from three played a huge part in their victory over the Lakers.
They also shot really well from mid-range, hitting 58.1% of their shots from 16 feet to the three-point line. That is unbelievable, as the league average field goal percentage from this area of the floor during the regular season was just 41.4%. It’s clear the Denver Nuggets benefited from some positive shooting variance.
The other area where they performed extremely well was offensive rebounding. The Nuggets grabbed 42 offensive rebounds, while the Lakers grabbed just 28. The Nuggets also recorded an offensive rebound rate of 25%, which was around 1% above the league average for this season.
Why does this matter? Famous statistician Dean Oliver found that four specific stats are the key to winning basketball games. These stats include effective field goal percentage, turnover rate, offensive rebound rate, and free throw rate. While offensive rebounds are not the most important thing in basketball, they matter a lot because they extend offensive possessions and give teams more opportunities to score.
Championship dreams turning into a reality
The Denver Nuggets shocked the basketball world by sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, and now they have a good shot at winning their first championship in franchise history.
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Led by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, their offense looked absolutely incredible against the Lakers as they shot extremely well from the perimeter and grabbed a high rate of offensive rebounds. If they can maintain this level of play in the NBA Finals, their chances of winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June are extremely promising.