Getty Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
It feels like an eternity ago but it has been less than two years since the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat to win an NBA championship. Due to back-to-back lackluster seasons, it’s easy to forget that the Lakers dominated their way to that championship that took place in the NBA bubble. During that playoff run, the team went 16-5 and never had to play in a Game 7.
Los Angeles was particularly dominant in the Western Conference playoffs with 4-1 series wins over the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets. One of the most iconic moments of the playoff run was Anthony Davis‘ game-winning 3-pointer against the Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers would’ve been tied 1-1 in the series had he missed the shot, which would’ve made it more interesting.
One player who was with the Lakers believes that the entire series would’ve ended differently had Davis missed that shot. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was recently traded to the Nuggets, doesn’t think his team would’ve won the series.
“I always tell people this story,” Caldwell-Pope said at the NBA’s Summer League. “If AD didn’t hit that three, I figure we would’ve lost that series. That’s what I think about this Denver team.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on joining the Nuggets: “I always tell people this story. If AD didn’t hit that 3, I think we would have lost that series. That’s what I think about this Denver team.”
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KCP Is Way Off
Nobody can fault Caldwell-Pope for trying to praise his new team. The Nuggets are contenders right now and he’s going to treat them that way. However, it’s odd that he’s so confident the Lakers would’ve lost if Davis didn’t hit that Game 2 shot. It wasn’t a close series.
Los Angeles won Game 1 by a score of 126-114. The Nuggets grabbed a Game 3 win but then dropped the next two. It’s possible that a win in Game 2 would’ve swung the momentum of the series but it’s not like it was a seven-game series. The Lakers were the better team that season with Davis completely outplaying Nikola Jokic. In fact, the back-to-back MVP only averaged 21.8 points a game in the series while Davis averaged 31.2. The Lakers weren’t going to lose with their superstar big man playing that well.
Lakers Working to Become Contenders Again
After dominating the Western Conference during the 2019-2020 season, the Lakers are quickly fallen behind. The conference is stacked with great teams right now that should be even better next season. The Clippers and Nuggets are both getting key players returning from injury. There are also young teams like the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans that are all young and improving.
If the Lakers aren’t smart they will not be able to keep pace in such a good conference. They have the ability to be contenders again if they can just stay healthy and get off of Russell Westbrook. If that happens, the Lakers will surprise a lot of people this season. However, they haven’t proven that they’ll be able to stay healthy. Until they can do that, it’s difficult to see them as true contenders.
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