NBA Opening Night: Lakers, Nuggets square off; Key matchup to watch

The 2023-24 NBA season opens with a Western Conference Finals rematch between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. 

A highly anticipated matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets is set to tip off the start of the new NBA season. Even though the Nuggets swept the Lakers in last season’s Western Conference Finals, it was still a very entertaining series. Fuel has been added to the fire due to the amount of trash talk coming from both teams over the course of the summer.

Both Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis have voiced their opinions about the chatter this preseason and it seems to have sparked a new rivalry between the teams. Davis said that the trash talk from the Nuggets is “very motivational” as the Lakers can exact a small measure of revenge starting with this matchup.

If the Lakers learned anything from last season’s playoff defeat, it’s to never underestimate the Nuggets. Despite all of the trash-talking, a game still has to be played. What will Nikola Jokic do for an encore after a historic playoff run? Are the Nuggets still good enough to get back to the Finals? It’s a long season but we will find out all the answers in due time.