Ahead of the Western Conference Finals, oddsmakers are listing the no. 3-seed Denver Nuggets as fairly heavy underdogs (+500) to upset the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. In the wake of Denver's Game 7 victory over the favored Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday — their second 3-1 series comeback of this postseason, after their Round 1 win over the Utah Jazz — the Nuggets are rightfully undaunted by the upcoming matchup. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who is averaging 27.1 PPG in the bubble playoffs, didn't hesitate to express his confidence going into his first conference finals.

The Lakers may have gone 52-19 in the regular season and demolished the Houston Rockets in five games in the second round, but Murray isn't worried about the challenge of facing LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

In fact, quite the opposite.

In Murray's postgame interview alongside Nikola Jokic after the team's 104-89 win on Wednesday, he was asked by ESPN's Rachel Nichols how his squad stacks up against the Lakers. Evidently, Murray likes his team's chances.

“They gotta worry about us too,” Murray said about Frank Vogel's group.

Jokic quickly chimed in and echoed Murray's sentiments.

“If we're going to go in there and think about them, then it's going to be a long night for us. We just need to go out there and — I will say: effort and having fun. It's simple for us.”

Murray also stressed the importance of carrying over the same “energy” they played with in the final three games of the conference semifinals.

 

Considering how Murray and Jokic (25.4 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 6.0 APG) have been playing through the first two rounds, the Lakers should be worried. After all, they might not be the only team in the series with two superstars.

Los Angeles won the season series, 3-1, including one matchup in the bubble — a 124-121 thriller. Of course, losing three of four games to a specific team hasn't stopped the Nuggets in these playoffs.

Game 1 will tip-off on Friday at 9 PM e.t. on TNT.