Right now, the Denver Nuggets are the top dogs in the West. They're sitting atop the conference with a 44-19 record, and are five games ahead of the second-placed Memphis Grizzlies. If they're able to keep up this pace, then Nikola Jokic and Co. are going to face off against the eighth seed in the West in the opening round of the playoffs.
As we all know by now, the seventh and eighth seeds are determined by a Play-In tournament at the end of the regular season. No less than seven teams are currently competing for the four spots in the Play-In, which of course includes the Los Angeles Lakers. LA secured a huge win on Wednesday over the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they did it without the injured LeBron James.
For renowned sports analyst Colin Cowherd, he believes that if the Lakers were able to somehow secure a first-round meeting with the Nuggets, it would be LeBron and Co. who'd end up advancing to the next round:
“If they were healthy, I’d pick the Lakers,” Cowherd said. “I don’t trust Denver in the West. … Playoff basketball is about being great at stuff. It’s not about depth. It’s not about plaques. It’s not about MVPs. The Lakers, when AD and LeBron are healthy, they have things they’re great at. So I would take the Lakers”
Would you take a healthy Lakers or healthy Nuggets in the playoffs?@ColinCowherd and @_JasonLT discuss pic.twitter.com/n5Kwg1pxtw
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) March 2, 2023
The big caveat here is that the Lakers have to be healthy. Most recent reports indicate that LeBron will be re-evaluated in three weeks, which means that he should be back in time for the playoffs. That is, of course, under the assumption that LA is able to secure a postseason spot for themselves.
As for the Nuggets, Cowherd is just one of the many doubters this team has. This is despite the fact that they've been on top of the West for some time now. Nikola Jokic and the rest of the squad clearly have something to prove, and they'll be more than happy to do that come April.
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