Lakers vs Nuggets! What's On The Line & What LA Needs To Do To Get The Win

Hello, Lakers Nation. Welcome in to the LakersNation.com podcast. My name is Trevor Lane and it's game day Lakers Nuggets 7 p.m. Pacific time tonight come hang out

I'll be live doing the play by play breaking everything down 7 p.m. Right here on the Lakers Nation.com YouTube channel

It's like a party. This is a big one big game for the Lakers tonight

Today on the show I'm going to get into the injury report

How does it look for the Lakers as well as the Nuggets will take a peek at the standing see where things stand

What is on the table right now for this game tonight? What's at stake plus we'll get into the keys to victory for the Lakers

So let's dive right in and we'll start with the injury update here for the Lakers

Maxi Cleba is questionable

That's it. That's the only injury right now. He's still dealing with that back

So it is to kept them out of last game. He was available last game against the Pelicans

But Maxi did not wind up playing he is questionable for tonight's game and they may need him

They may need him tonight. I mean, they're going to need as many players as they can get to throw at Nicola Yokech

So this injury for Maxi questionable is something we do need to keep an eye on because the Lakers center depth could be tested

Tonight now for the Denver Nuggets who have dealt with a number of injuries of the course of the season

They're going to be without Aaron Gordon and the Lakers may be catching a little bit of luck here because it sounds like Aaron Gordon

Is going to be back sooner rather than later for the Nuggets

Maybe even their next game. So Aaron Gordon will still be out though for this one tonight against the Lakers

Cam Johnson currently listed as questionable while Spencer Jones who is really impressed

With the nuggets. He's on now a full contract earning his way onto one Spencer Jones is out as well and

Peyton Watson who could wind up being a Lakers target in free agency

He is also out for the Denver Nuggets

So the last time the Lakers Nuggets played it was a Lakers win the nuggets were missing a number of players including Nicola Yokech

Now the Lakers are facing a short-handed Nuggets side once again

Nonetheless, Denver is still a very very dangerous team and a team that has proven that it is capable of winning games

Even when they're missing key pieces of their rotation. So right now even though they're missing Peyton Watson even though they're missing

Aaron Gordon may be Cam Johnson Spencer Jones out the Denver Nuggets last I looked a four and a half point favorite

For this game again. This is a road game in Denver for the Lakers

That naturally is going to tilt things a little bit towards Denver

But even with those injuries the nuggets are still seen as the favorite in this game the Lakers

They're gonna have their work cut out. I mean they're always going to whenever you're playing Nicola Yokech

But they've got their work cut out for them in Denver in order to get the win in this one

So what's on the line for this game? So I said it's a big game

Why is it such a big game for your Los Angeles Lakers? Well, we do take a peek at the standings right now

The Western Conference playoff race you can see very much in flux and well this one is gonna matter a lot

So the Lakers are playing the nuggets three times this year and the last time they played the Lakers did get the win

That was back near the end of January so

The Lakers are up one out and what that means is that the season series is on the line with the two sides only playing three times this year

They do play again in a little over a week

But right now the season series would be on the line if the Lakers were to win this they would go up to oh in a three game

Series for the season and the tiebreaker could very well matter right now the Lakers are the six seed

But they're only a half a game back of the Denver Nugget so

If the Lakers were to win this game they would flip flop places the Lakers would move back into the fifth seed

Denver would fall down to six so in the near term. That's what's at stake right now. It's it's fifth place

But longer term the standings of the Western Conference. They're so compressed as expected

You've got the Lakers just a game and a half back of the Houston Rockets game and a half back of the Minnesota Timberwolves

Half a game back at the Denver Nuggets and only two games up on the Phoenix Sun

So right now you have Houston, Minnesota, Denver, the Lakers and the Suns all essentially competing for the three through seven spots in the West

So a win over Denver tonight would be big

Not just for moving the Lakers into the five seed right now also getting the tiebreaker over Denver

And of course maybe ultimately moving up to the three seed of course

Ultimately when we get to the playoffs

We know that just being the three seed or the seven seed or whatever

Is not everything as we saw last year the Lakers were the three seed and wound up losing in the first round

A lot of it's going to be matchup based and that's just that's what happens when you get a league with increase in parity

A lot of it can come down to who do you draw how do you match up with that team in round one

But nonetheless for the time being with you know nearly 20 games left here in the season

Right now you just want to win as many games as you possibly can if you're the Lakers just win as many games as you can

And once we get a little closer once we get a couple weeks out of the the end of the regular season

Then maybe the Lakers can try to manipulate things a little bit to get a certain matchup or try to get to a certain seed

Right now when as many games as you possibly can get as high as you can in the standings now remember

This is really the beginning of a very difficult stretch for the Lakers schedule-wise

See they've got the game tonight against Denver

But then Indiana tomorrow second night of a back-to-back against the Pacers that's back in LA

So you got a hop on a plane in the play. I know the Pacers are a tanking team

But nonetheless second night of a back-to-back after playing the Nuggets tonight

You know could be a little bit tricky

In just over a week they do play Denver again and between now and then you've got Indiana

New York on Sunday that's gonna be a big one and it's an early game 12 30 pacific time game

Then you've got Minnesota

Chicago which is essentially a tanking team not one of the better teams

But they can always you know be a threat any given night look

We saw the pelicans give the Lakers a little bit of trouble just a couple of nights ago

Then Denver again then Houston then Houston

Then Miami second night of a back-to-back in Miami yikes

That's a long flight to Houston to Miami and then you've got you got to play the heat

Then Orlando then at Detroit and then at Indiana. So look there's in the next couple of weeks here

The Lakers have some big time games for a team that has struggled to beat

The best teams in the NBA. I've said it before. I don't think they've had a true statement win

Since the last time they beat Minnesota, which was the end of October

That was when the season was just starting

so

This is an opportunity for the Lakers

It's a very daunting portion of their schedule

But it's also an opportunity to maybe pick up some of the statement wins that they've been lacking

So far on the season and that really begins tonight

This very important stretch that it's likely going to determine are the Lakers

Maybe the three seed could they fall as low as maybe even being in the play in and keep in mind when we're looking at the Lakers

And the Nuggets specifically we start looking more at the strength of schedule remaining and the Denver Nuggets do have the most difficult remaining strength of schedule in the NBA

Meanwhile, the Lakers have the ninth most difficult strength of schedule

It doesn't mean the Lakers have an easy schedule in fact you look at the Lakers schedule on tankathon and they list the top

Five opponents that a team has left. I'm sorry top six opponents that a team has left and Denver doesn't even make the list

I have Denver as a legitimate contender and they don't even make the list of the top

Opponents the Lakers have remaining because they've got games against they have two games against okc

They've got Detroit. I've got another gaming gets the nicks. They've got Houston, Minnesota, Cleveland

All of those teams ranking ahead of the Nuggets

So the Nuggets don't even make it onto the list of the top six teams the Lakers have remaining

It is not an easy finish to the schedule the Lakers are going to have to be playing their best basketball and continue to improve and grow

And they really want to hit their their stride ahead of the playoffs

But it's if they're hoping for the three seed

It's not going to be easy getting there the western conference is going to be a gauntlet from here on out

So there's a lot on the line both in the near term as well as the long term in this game for the Lakers

It is right now battling for the fifth seed

Also battling for the tiebreaker over the Denver Nuggets

Given how close things are right now in the standings the tiebreakers could very well wind up mattering

And then longer term we're also just talking about stacking as many wins as you possibly can in order to ideally

continue to move up and and progress in a very very difficult very challenging western conference

And of course as we get closer to the playoffs we'll start getting more into

What's the best path for the Lakers who's the best first round opponent all that sort of stuff for right now

You win as many games as you can and then we'll sort through everything

At a later date because of how close things are all right

So the Lakers again big big game tonight 7 p.m. Pacific time

What are the Lakers going to need to do in order to beat a very good very talented

Nuggets side i'm going to get into that next i'll be right back in one minute

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All right, so one of the lakers need to do in order to get the win tonight over the denver nuggets

You know, there's a lot of challenges stylistically with denver when we look at this team

One of the really the lakers in order to be at their best and jg reddick has talked a little bit about this in order for them to hit their ceiling

They are looking to be a top 10 offense and a top 15 defense

So they want to be an above average defense

Well, I think recognizing that they're not going to be a top five

Even they're not going to be one of the best defenses in the NBA. I don't think they have the personnel for that

But they also understand that they're ceiling on the offensive end is higher than they're ceiling defensively

And so they want to be a top 10 offensive team the challenge with denver is that they are also essentially those things in terms of

If they're going to be at their best, they're going to be in elite offense and they're going to try to be

Better than average defensively and if we look at denver right now

They are number one in the NBA in offensive rating

Obviously that's going to paint the picture of the entire season for denver and denver is dealt with with a number of injuries and things of that nature

So you know what version of the nuggets are you getting in any given moment that's

That is obviously something that that matters, but nonetheless on the season

They are number one on the NBA in offensive rating now. They do have losses recently

They've lost a number of games. They lost a golden state the golden state warriors to the lakers

dismantled

Just a few days ago. They lost to okay see they went to over time to do it. That's you know

No shame in that

Lost him in a soda as well recently had a loss to the clippers by a point

So the nuggets are not they lost to the calves the nuggets are

When they're at their best. They are a very very good team

But they also are not have not been playing their best basketball lately

But I do have some stylistic concerns for the lakers against the nuggets simply because

The nuggets are very similar to the lakers

But I think the nuggets when they're at their best are a little bit better at the same things essentially that the lakers are good at

You know the the nuggets are a low volume three-point shooting team

But they're a higher it just as the lakers are but they are a higher percentage three-point shooting team

Then the lakers are so that's that in and of itself. You look at the nuggets offense across the board

They're in the top 10 at every state and we get the rim on threes the you know percentage wise

It's when you get into the frequency of their shooting. They're not as high frequency of a

three-point shooting team or even a team getting shots at the rim

And that's one thing that kind of holds the Denver Nuggets back

But that was going to look fairly similar to what the lakers chart would look like as well

Where the lakers generate and score a very high percentage of their mid-range shots the nuggets are more efficient though from three

And in their attacks at the rim so

That's that's a little bit of a concern

I think there's a chance that this is a very very close game

Because you've got two teams that are going to lean very heavily into their offense and it could come down to

Who just makes fewer mistakes in this one tonight? And I think before I even get into the three keys here. It's also important to note that

Denver will be up for this game, right

We saw the pelicans last game got up to play against the lakers

Very clear just looking at their injury report. They were playing everybody in that game

That's kind of funny. They've already declared like a few players like the jonte Murray out for this next game that they've got

But nonetheless the teams get up to play the lakers that will especially be true for Denver

They hate the lakers in Denver

So you know the crowd is going to be boisterous. It's going to be loud and the lakers are going to be ready for that

Now in terms of strategically

I think one of the things the lakers are going to need to be ready to do is send a lot of help for

Nicola yogicch. I mean we know how good he is

I think he's the best basketball player in the world right now you look at this

He's a plus 17.8 on the season when he's out there on the court for the Denver

I mean this team is there's so much better when he's on the floor

They're in the hundredth percentile in offense

And then they're in the 80th percentile defensively when yogicch is out there on the floor now

They did bring in Jonas Valentino's kind of interesting last game. They actually started both Jonas and

Yokech I don't know that they'll do that strategy in this game against the lakers

I wouldn't expect it

But just throwing it out there the double big lineup was something that the the Denver Nuggets turned to their last game

But the big thing for the lakers is and sometimes this winds up not working out

And we've seen that in the past with lakers and nuggets matchups the lakers

I believe over the last they've played the laker the nuggets four times since

Trading for Luca one of those games luka didn't play in but the lakers are three and oh in the games that luka has played

against Denver

Luca has done very well against the nuggets

That said

The lakers big job here is going to be

Not shutting down nickel yokech but making other guys beat them and

That hasn't always gone well for the lakers in the past the recent history the lakers have done pretty well

Against the Denver Nuggets

But when we think about the playoff series in the past and we think about what's happened with this team in Denver

And there was that period of time where the lakers just felt

Incapable of beating this team because

Every night

It seemed like

Some nuggets role player just hit shot after shot after shot after shot

It was it was like magnet ball or something they it was remarkable the way they would beat the lakers

Would feel like every time the lakers would hang in there you'd get to about midway through the fourth quarter

and then you'd get a run of

Seven possessions or so and the nuggets would score on like five or six of those seven possessions and the lakers would score on one or two of those

Possessions and that's that's it. That was the game games over at that point

And it just felt like whether it was

Catavius called Wapu or Christian Brown or whoever these guys were just hitting

Shots and they had somebody else stepping up and hitting big shots all the time against the lakers nonetheless

Even with that kind of PTSD still built in there

um the lakers

I think need to make other guys beat them non yokech players beat them and Jamal Murray

Tends to go crazy whenever he plays against the lakers

You also you obviously don't want to funnel shots to him because he can get hot in a big way, but

Yokech can be so hyper efficient scoring the basketball

um

You want to make him

Distribute you want to make those shots go elsewhere ideally you don't want them going to Jamal Murray

But if you can make a julien's brother take shots if you can make Christian Brown who's very capable of knocking down shots

But yokech is so efficient that you're going to be better off trying to get those shots elsewhere

Now yokech is still going to get

His points, right? I mean he's going to do that. He's not having as good of a season

As as he's had in some seasons past when we've seen him just be the clear, you know runaway

MVP

But nonetheless, I think you want to try to prevent yokech from really getting going and getting

Into a rhythm

When we dig into his stats a little bit on the season

He's at 29 points per game right now 12.6 rebounds 10.3

I mean, it's just absolutely ridiculous the numbers that he put the video game numbers

That he puts up and he's even shooting 40 percent from three

Makes it very very difficult to deal with denver

I mentioned the nuggets are very good at a lot of the things that the lakers are also good at

They're also a high volume free throw shooting team this season

But they make a higher so just like the lakers are but they make a higher percentage of their free throws than the lakers do

So again, that that's a challenge, but yokech if you let him get going and you let him go for 35 or something like that and do it in

In a hyper efficient way

That's that's very tough. I you are better off with

Jamal Murray going for 35, but taking more shots to do it because he's having to take more difficult shots more shots outside the paint

That is the preferred option here for the lakers. So you're going to have to send help on nickley ochers defensively deandre

Aton. I'll talk more about him in a minute. He's going to have a big task. I already talked about maxi cleva

He's probably going to get some reps if he is a go deal with that back issue

We've also seen the lakers go small jackson haze

I thought I've been singing his praises. I thought he was fantastic. That's last gaming is the pelicans

This is a very difficult matchup for jackson haze simply because of the size and physicality of yokech

He's being certainly faster between the two, but he's given up a lot of weight a lot of size a lot of strength to yokech

It's a very tough matchup for him

I think you need to make the argument that putting Lebron

On yokech or putting Ruihatchamura on yokech who actually have a little bit more muscle on them then

The jackson haze does may even be the preferred option just to lean on yokech a little bit

But the bottom line is that no one player is going to bother yokech enough to really stop him

You're going to have to send help and you're going to have to mix it up

JJ reddick is going to have to throw some curveballs at yokech because he's so smart

He understands the game such a high level that if you send the same defense multiple times in a row

He's going to pick it apart. He's going to identify the counters for that

So the lakers are going to have to mix things up a lot. They're going to have to be very

A vigilant about where yokech is getting his catches

And sending help in order to force the pass out and then the

The weak side players are going to have to scramble they're going to have to be in scramble mode

We're going to have to see the lakers defense

Not just

Strategically operating at a high level, but effort-wise they're you they're going to be situations where

They've got three guys defending four and they're going to have to scramble and recover and help

And do everything they can if they can indeed get the ball out of the hands of nickley yokech

So it's a very tall task and it's one that there is not going to be one solution for throughout the entire game

They can just go to I think it's going to take throwing a lot of different looks at yokech

Doubling from different angles sending help in different areas the timing of it all of that

There's going to be a lot of intricacy that's going to be built into how the lakers are going to have to defend nickley yokech tonight

and we'll see if they can

If they can accomplish that

the second point

Pain to great, you know, it's a simple thing, but the Denver Nuggets not so great protecting the rim

They are really good stopping shots from getting to the rim to begin with when you do get shots against them at the bucket

They they're not great there

We look at their rim protection numbers they they're 27th in the NBA and opponents feel goal percentage at the rim

So if you can get to the rim against this club

You've got a pretty good shot a score of the basketball however, they're fifth in the NBA in rim

Tempts at the rim allowed so

Denver while you can score on them if you can get to the bucket and get into the pain

They don't give up a lot of those attempts their perimeter defense does a pretty good job

So for the lakers it's going to be about getting those paint touches

It's going to be about getting into the teeth of the Denver defense not allowing their perimeter defenders to keep you on the outside

And I think that's going to require a lot of off ball activity from the lakers

I want to see a lot of pin down screens back screens all kinds of the stack actions and things like that that they're running

The lakers are not going to be able to just stagnate on the offensive end and simply run the high pick and roll

I think they're going to have to throw just like what they're going to have to do defensively

I think they're going to have to throw a lot of curveballs at the Denver Nuggets thing

And I have to throw different looks at them terms of how they're running things offensively

Of course Luca is going to need to have a really big game

He's going to need to be a superstar back Luca can say one of the easy

Things to watch and there's a lot of different areas this game to watch but

Bottom line when the dust settles does Luca have a better game than Yokech like that that is going to matter a lot

In the ultimate outcome of this game

But I do think that

offensively

Keeping the focus on getting paint touches is going to be important and that doesn't mean not shooting the three

It just means getting a paint touch and a kick out before you are taking that three you want to be able to

Get into the heart of the defense first then make your decisions from there after you force the defense to react

Once the defense collapses then you're kicking out to an open shooter

Ideally, it's a loop canard a really hot tremoros someone like that Denver is disciplined as they are

It probably won't be and it's going to take Marcus smart the Jake the Ravens players like that are going to have to knock down

The shots that they get but it's all got to start from paint touches you need to see the lakers

Getting into this defense getting touches in the pain and then going from there

If they can get shots at the rim off of that fantastic take those

But they're going to have to get a paint touch read how the defense reacts and then respond appropriately from there

Guys are going to have to step up and hit shots as I said Denver's defense is disciplined

I'm not expecting loop canard to get seven threes in this game tonight

You want to get as many form as you can

But there's also going to be an element of this where the other guys that aren't always accurate three-point shooters

You're going to need them to knock down some shots tonight

Marcus smart's going to need to do it

But rabie is going to need to do it. There's going to be some guys who are going to get looks

And are just going to be able to knock down though need to be able to knock down those shots

And that includes the brunt

Who had a couple of games shooting well from three was one for five last game against the pells

He's going to need to have the three ball working in this one for the lakers to get a win

All right, I've got a final key to victory here for the lakers plus the X factor for the game

And I'm going to get to that

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All right my last key to victory

When the turnover battle sounds simple. Doesn't it?

Well as I said the Denver Nuggets have been very very good when it comes to turning the basketball

Over in fact they have the third best turnover percentage in the NBA

Meanwhile your Los Angeles Lakers. Well, they have not been as good at the turnover battle now

They had been doing very very well. We had seen improvement there in fact

They're 22nd in the NBA and turnover percentage. So you may hear that and think oh well

Good luck doing that when you're talking about the third best offense when it comes to turning the basketball over

And the 22nd best offense when it comes to turning the basketball over and the Lakers are coming off of a

Disasterously high turnover game against the pelicans. They had

21 turnovers against the pedals none of that

Sounds optimistic about the Lakers ability to do what I'm saying here

And win the turnover battle, but I do have some good news

And the good news is that the Lakers even after

This rough outing against the pedals that saw them turn the ball over 21 times the Lakers

Since the all star break now that's a small sample size into seven games

But since the all star break the Lakers actually ranked second in the NBA

In turnover percentage. They've actually done a much better job not turning the ball over again last game

Not did not check that box. They turned the ball over a ton

But the Denver Nuggets are a team that very much takes care of the basketball the Lakers need to match them there

The other thing about Denver is that they're not a very high turnover forcing team

They are very low when it comes to steals the Lakers generate a lot more steals than the Nuggets do

So if the Lakers are not sloppy with the basketball offensively Denver is not the kind of team

They play solid contained defense, but they're not going to force a bunch of turnovers on their opponents

That's not the way that they have defended there are other teams that

Go the opposite route the Detroit Pistons for example foul at an incredibly high rate

They are they pick up the most fouls in the NBA

But they also force the most turnovers in the NBA get the most steals in the league and they use that to get out of run

And they think that balance the balances things out

When you factor in all of the foul calls that go against them Denver

It is a bit more conservative defensively. So

Denver's not going to force you to turn the ball over a ton

They're not going to get out of position a lot defensively

But there is a path for the Lakers to be a low turnover team against Denver

Now the key is can the Lakers also turn over to the Nuggets go in the other way

And based on the year-long stats

You would say that's

Unlikely the Denver Nuggets 15th in the NBA in turnover percentage since the all-star break though

So they have gotten a little bit sloppier with the basketball over the last week plus couple weeks

The Lakers meanwhile

Done a much better job hanging on to the basketball

So we're always keeping an eye on those margin areas

3.0 percentage free throw attempts and percentage

Turnovers offensive rebounds those are the you know the important stats that we keep an eye on in the margins

That often go a long way towards determining whether or not you win a game

But in this one while all those stats are important

I'm going to be keeping a really close eye on the turnover percentage

The Nuggets are just too clinical offensively

if you give them

Plus seven shots or something like that feel goal attempts over what the Lakers get

Because the Lakers find themselves at a turnover deficit at the end of the night and

They maybe give up a couple extra offensive rebounds or something

That would be a very very difficult mountain to climb

And because the Nuggets are so efficient scoring the basketball an extra seven feel goal attempts

Could be disastrous could be nearly insurmountable because they're so good at scoring the balls

So the turnovers are going to be critical and I want to see the Lakers

I'm not saying they have to be great if they can't I'm not saying they have to win it by like

Five turnovers or something like that be five turnovers better than the Nuggets

It doesn't have to be this big discrepancy

But you want to keep yourself in it and the way the Lakers can really get themselves out of a game

Is when they turn the ball over a lot the opponent generates a bunch of extra feel goal attempts

And the math it just doesn't math at that point it gets very difficult for the Lakers to stay in a game

So the turnover column going to be very very important

How sharp is this team what they cannot afford to do in tonight's game is

Hand the ball to Denver they can't do we can't see any of these

Oops, I dribble the ball off my foot type moments in this game

You do not have the margin for error for that against Denver the Lakers have to be sharp

Turnovers are unavoidable

You're not going to just have zero turnovers in a game. You're going to have some you just want to make sure

The Nuggets are actually having to work for those turnovers and you are limiting those turnovers as much as you possibly can

Um, if this game is going to go poorly

The way it snowballs is if the Lakers have a high turnover game

Whereas if the Lakers are going to win this game

The way they're going to do it in addition to the shot making and the defense and everything that gets wrapped up in a win

But

It's going to be key that they are

Right there neck and neck with the Nuggets in turnovers ideally maybe even win the turnover battle

If they're going to get the win in this one

All right, my ex-factor

For this game, I you know, I hate to go back to the well here and go with the same player

But second game in a row. I'm going to say deandre and and

I think it's it's inescapable that it's deandre and for this game because this is

This is the kind of matchup that you've got deandre and for um

We saw Jackson Hayes in the playoffs last year

Didn't the Lakers really struggled with the size of the Minnesota Timberwolves and even post-trade deadline last year when the Lakers made the Luca trade trading away Anthony Davis

Their lack of size was an issue at times. It's the point where JG Reddick just leaned into playing small ball and

Essentially trusted five players put those five players on the floor and that was it and it didn't include Jackson Hayes

So getting deandre and was about having another option and a bigger more physical

Sturdy or option at the center spot. He will still be at a

a strength and size deficit when compared to yogic when compared to valentina's

But we've also seen deandre and turned in good performances against the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier on in the year

He's also had stinkers against

Say the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day

So what version of deandre and the Lakers get do they get a DA who steps up through the challenge of

Dealing with Nikola Yokich in this game and has one of his better performances or do we see a deandre and who

Like on Christmas Day has two rebounds and is just

A ghost out there on the floor

That is going to be critical for the Lakers tonight. They need a solid performance out of deandre and not just because in general

They need to get more consistent and more solid performances out of them

And I thought he was fine. He got outplayed by Jackson Hayes against the Pelicans

But that was more Jackson Hayes was awesome that game

DA I thought was fine

Against the pal had a few

The unforced mistakes that I was just talking about dropping the ball out of bounds things of that nature

But overall the course of the game. I thought he was fine

They need tonight's game to be one of deandreans best games

It may not even show up in the box score if it is

But he's got to box out on the glass

He's got to be that primary initial defender on Nicola Yokich

He's got to be forcing him into tough shots whenever he can whenever he can

He's got to be communicating on the back line

Deandreate is absolutely critical in this game

In fact, if DA does not have a good game

It's going to be very difficult for the Lakers to win this one

I think that's how important deandreate is going to be for the Lakers tonight. So

DA this is a look spotlight is on Lakers Nuggets playoff positioning and stake

Come on deandreate and they the Lakers need a big outing out of him tonight

All right Lakers nation give me your thoughts in the comments down below

Don't forget game time 7 p.m. Pacific time be live right here on the Lakers nation.com YouTube channel

Do it a little play by play breaking down the game as it happens. Tell that everybody see him and stay safe