The LeBron James- 23-24 NBA Playoffs & Off-Season Thread -(NO PERSONAL ATTACKS & BAITING)

[VanWest82]

15 Fouls for Denver and 12 Fouls for Lakers

Not a huge discrepancy.

What calls were suspect? I thought Jokic was just as physical to AD as AD was to Jokic--seems like some great 1990s physicality

Even though the contact was exaggerated, I thought Bron fouled Jokic with under a min to go. AD arguably also fouled Jokic on the drive that was overturned because of the stuff. There were other calls throughout the game that seemed a little one-sided. Jokic shot zero free throws fwiw.

Edit: I will say that the series as a whole was better officiated than I would've thought coming in.

Yeah, Lakers really need the 1998 Refs though to get through this one.

Game 4
Chicago 4Q FTA: 24
Utah 4Q FTA: 3

Chicago wins by 4 points

How did their season advantage compare to 24 Lakers season advantage?

One random game in a series seems less suspect than a deciding game that might extend the series.

[VanWest82]

27 to 9 FTA advantage, including some suspect calls down the stretch. Refs tried.

VanLeast, long time.

That's just a weak attempt at an insult even for you.

[donnieme]

The record shows Denver is clearly better but when these many games are close it's also not a coincidence. The gap is nowhere as bad as the record of the last 12 games. Lakers just have awful scoreline management. When you already lack the personnel to stop the opponents 2 best players you can't be having to overcome your coach playing for the other team.

It's death, taxes and no laker lead being permanent.

[Peregrine01]

What a painful series bro..........might be the most painful Ive experienced as a Bron fan honestly

they **** outplayed them 70% of the series...........if they pulled it out they win game 6. Goat James game 7 record speaks for itself

**** man.........i really believed the 0-3 was possible specially after Murray injury news

Murray basically had his best game in the series tonight.

Basically the 8th time in 9 playoffs games you get an identical game, pretty amazing. Lakers role players are just too ass for this to be a contender. Pretty impressive effort though all things considered, Denver atleast looked mortal in this series where last year it didn't really appear that way.

Never seen this before. Nuggets only led for like 55 minutes the entire series.

The thing with the Nuggets is that they coast. A lot. Especially Jokic who looked like he barely got out of first gear in this series. So they half-assed it a good majority of the series and then tried to make it all back late in games. It works against the Lakers but it won’t against the Wolves.

[homecourtloss]

Murray basically had his best game in the series tonight.

Basically the 8th time in 9 playoffs games you get an identical game, pretty amazing. Lakers role players are just too ass for this to be a contender. Pretty impressive effort though all things considered, Denver atleast looked mortal in this series where last year it didn't really appear that way.

Never seen this before. Nuggets only led for like 55 minutes the entire series.

The thing with the Nuggets is that they coast. A lot. Especially Jokic who looked like he barely got out of first gear in this series. So they half-assed it a good majority of the series and then tried to make it all back late in games. It works against the Lakers but it won’t against the Wolves.

I don’t think they were coasting to be honest. They were genuinely getting outplayed but have a lot of confidence in themselves built up over two years.

[Colbinii]

Need a new coach if they run it back with Lebron and Davis.

Eh, Ham didn't really cost them the series.

I think he probably cost them a couple RS Wins with rotations, but let's be honest, he wasn't working with a lot.

Two of their key rotation guys--Vando and Vincent--were hurt for a majority of the season.

The team had no wing depth and had to rely on Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince to play big minutes while Rui is a fine piece.

Honestly, all they need to do is tweak some skill-sets [Russell, Hayes, Wood, Reddish] and maybe see what you can do with Vincent while Keeping Vando.

There is a chance Christie finally does something productive and can stay on the floor while Hood-Schifino has an outside shot at being someone.

The players they can get without giving any valuable assets include guys like Malcolm Brogdon, Bruce Brown, Nikola Vucevic, Kevin Huerter, Grant Williams and Jordan Clarkson.

I like giving up some minor-to-medium assets though for guys like Dorian Finney-Smith, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Jerami Grant, C.J. McCollum and Alex Caruso.

It is going to be another interesting off-season for the Lakers.

[Colbinii]

Even though the contact was exaggerated, I thought Bron fouled Jokic with under a min to go. AD arguably also fouled Jokic on the drive that was overturned because of the stuff. There were other calls throughout the game that seemed a little one-sided. Jokic shot zero free throws fwiw.

Edit: I will say that the series as a whole was better officiated than I would've thought coming in.

Yeah, Lakers really need the 1998 Refs though to get through this one.

Game 4
Chicago 4Q FTA: 24
Utah 4Q FTA: 3

Chicago wins by 4 points

How did their season advantage compare to 24 Lakers season advantage?

One random game in a series seems less suspect than a deciding game that might extend the series.

Ah so you mean this game is irrelevant since the Nuggets have 70 FTA to the Lakers 67 in the series [prior to this game]?

I haven't seen a Lakers game and thought "They get all the calls". I think LeBron James led teams defend like LeBron does--rotate early, understand your assignment and coverage, move your feet and defend with your body rather than your hands.

Plus, LeBron James led team's typically aren't reliant heavily on the jump shot, which means a lot of their touches are either in the paint with AD/LeBron [Drawing fouls is easy there] or it is LeBron making a good decision and catching the defense out of position.

[VanWest82]

As a hater, I have to give props to Lebron for his performance this series. He continues to win me over with his play on the court. I'm going to try to avoid his press conference in an attempt to like him.

[coastalmarker99]

Just wish LeBron was younger as from 2021 to 2024 the title winners haven't been that strong compared to the Warriors.


I honestly think that LeBron from 2015 to 2018 at the very least gets one or two titles in this time period.

[Colbinii]

Just wish LeBron was younger as from 2021 to 2024 the title winners haven't been that strong compared to the warriors.


I honestly think that LeBron from 2015 to 2018 at the very least gets one or two titles in this time period.

Yeah LeBron has a decent shot at winning in 2021 with a healthy leg and even in 2023 the Nuggets had arguably the easiest championship run in NBA history.

[VanWest82]

Yeah, Lakers really need the 1998 Refs though to get through this one.

Game 4
Chicago 4Q FTA: 24
Utah 4Q FTA: 3

Chicago wins by 4 points

How did their season advantage compare to 24 Lakers season advantage?

One random game in a series seems less suspect than a deciding game that might extend the series.

Ah so you mean this game is irrelevant since the Nuggets have 70 FTA to the Lakers 67 in the series [prior to this game]?

I haven't seen a Lakers game and thought "They get all the calls". I think LeBron James led teams defend like LeBron does--rotate early, understand your assignment and coverage, move your feet and defend with your body rather than your hands.

Plus, LeBron James led team's typically aren't reliant heavily on the jump shot, which means a lot of their touches are either in the paint with AD/LeBron [Drawing fouls is easy there] or it is LeBron making a good decision and catching the defense out of position.

We disagree that Lebron-led teams rarely foul. But season's over so it doesn't matter now. Edit: cause you added an edit. See my previous response to you that I thought overall the series was officiated well. This game was a little rough in Lakers favour.

[Colbinii]

How did their season advantage compare to 24 Lakers season advantage?

One random game in a series seems less suspect than a deciding game that might extend the series.

Ah so you mean this game is irrelevant since the Nuggets have 70 FTA to the Lakers 67 in the series [prior to this game]?

I haven't seen a Lakers game and thought "They get all the calls". I think LeBron James led teams defend like LeBron does--rotate early, understand your assignment and coverage, move your feet and defend with your body rather than your hands.

Plus, LeBron James led team's typically aren't reliant heavily on the jump shot, which means a lot of their touches are either in the paint with AD/LeBron [Drawing fouls is easy there] or it is LeBron making a good decision and catching the defense out of position.

We disagree that Lebron-led teams rarely foul. But season's over so it doesn't matter now.

Season isn't over. My team is in the next round there bud.

[coastalmarker99]

Just wish LeBron was younger as from 2021 to 2024 the title winners haven't been that strong compared to the warriors.


I honestly think that LeBron from 2015 to 2018 at the very least gets one or two titles in this time period.

Yeah LeBron has a decent shot at winning in 2021 with a healthy leg and even in 2023 the Nuggets had arguably the easiest championship run in NBA history.

Was feasting at the rim even through he is 39.

2020 LeBron wins this series with the way ad was playing as well.

You can tell he has lost a step as he can only go all out for one half now and was getting out jumped on the boards by Gordon.


Hope the wolves go on and win the title.

Think this Denver wolves series is the real finals.

Can’t see Boston winning against both teams if kp is hurt

[Peregrine01]

Never seen this before. Nuggets only led for like 55 minutes the entire series.

The thing with the Nuggets is that they coast. A lot. Especially Jokic who looked like he barely got out of first gear in this series. So they half-assed it a good majority of the series and then tried to make it all back late in games. It works against the Lakers but it won’t against the Wolves.

I don’t think they were coasting to be honest. They were genuinely getting outplayed but have a lot of confidence in themselves built up over two years.

They were going through the motions. When Lebron finds something that works, he attacks it again and again. Meanwhile Jokic, the most unguardedly player in the game, is taking himself out of the offense by running DHOs with Reggie Jackson. I’m sure he has his reasons for doing so but it hurts his team when he’s this passive. He probably could’ve saved Murray from aggravating his calf had he played with more aggression.

[EmpireFalls]

As a hater, I have to give props to Lebron for his performance this series. He continues to win me over with his play on the court. I'm going to try to avoid his press conference in an attempt to like him.

This made me laugh.

I honestly think it’ll get lost how well he played. 27.8-6.8-8.8, 2.4 SPG 1.0 BPG on 63.7% TS. Actually finished top 5 in BPM for the entire first round playoff series too.

Now it wasn’t all pretty, he had trouble containing Gordon and Jokic on the offensive glass and turned in a pretty rough 4th in games 1 and 3, though mostly just fatigue based. But he made a ton of clutch plays, tons of big buckets in Games 2, 4, and 5 down the stretch. Oh yeah, he lead the entire series in minutes too (!)

Really couldn’t have asked for more considering he is 39 and has played thousands more minutes than anyone in the sport’s history. It was all for naught but this was about as well as you could realistically ask anyone to play at his age.

[RCM88x]

Need a new coach if they run it back with Lebron and Davis.

I really don't think Ham is amongst their biggest issues personally, but like usual, the coach will probably be the scapegoat.

Roster is the problem and has been for 3 seasons. Don't think they can really fix that, so they'll try to find a coach who will.

[Djoker]

Lebron actually played much better in this series than last year against the Nuggets even though his stats may not look the part. Still clearly a top 10 player in the league at age 39. No doubt it.

[homecourtloss]

Ah so you mean this game is irrelevant since the Nuggets have 70 FTA to the Lakers 67 in the series [prior to this game]?

I haven't seen a Lakers game and thought "They get all the calls". I think LeBron James led teams defend like LeBron does--rotate early, understand your assignment and coverage, move your feet and defend with your body rather than your hands.

Plus, LeBron James led team's typically aren't reliant heavily on the jump shot, which means a lot of their touches are either in the paint with AD/LeBron [Drawing fouls is easy there] or it is LeBron making a good decision and catching the defense out of position.

We disagree that Lebron-led teams rarely foul. But season's over so it doesn't matter now.

Season isn't over. My team is in the next round there bud.

The season is over when your only rooting interest is seeing LeBron lose.

[Colbinii]

Lebron actually played much better in this series than last year against the Nuggets even though his stats may not look the part. Still clearly a top 10 player in the league at age 39. No doubt it.

Friendly reminded LeBron couldn't move laterally last year and couldn't explode off of one of his legs.

[Peregrine01]

Seeing Lebron at 40 play with more force and fire than Jokic at 29 was eye-opening. As a big Jokic-booster around these parts, I still think he has some ways to go in the mentality department.