Key players to watch in the NBA Western Conference Finals
LeBron James and Nikola Jokic headline the Western Conference Finals, but the casts rounding out the ensembles for the Lakers and Nuggets will have their imprint on the next four to seven games as well.
Oddschecker lists the MVP odds for eight players in the conference finals with (spoiler alert) Jokic the odds-on favorite. James isn't far behind, nor is teammate Anthony Davis. Here's a look at why they —and five others — will play a key role in the next round.
Lakers guards Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell (+19000)
Reaves scored a series-high 23 points in Game 6 against Golden State and looks more comfortable every time he takes the court. After hitting 34.4 percent of his threes in the first round, he shot a scorching 45.2 percent from beyond the arc in the conference semifinals.
For the Lakers to have a chance against Denver, he'll need to display the same kind of shooting touch, and more consistently. In the first three games of the conference semifinals, he averaged nine points per game on his three lowest-scoring games of the postseason.
Russell is having the best postseason of his career, averaging 15.7 points and making 2.1 threes at a 34.7 percent success rate. He played a crucial role in their Game 3 win against the Warriors, scoring 21 points and making five threes. If he has a couple of big games in the conference finals, it could be bad news for the Nuggets.
Nuggets forwards Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. (+10000)
Gordon (47.3 percent) and Porter (47.2 percent) have the second-and third-highest shooting percentages among Nuggets players with at least 10 field goal attempts this postseason, only trailing Jokic. Porter averaged 12.8 points and seven rebounds per game in the conference semifinals while making 2.3 threes per game, including two games with at least five made threes.
Gordon began the postseason hot with seven consecutive double-digit scoring games. He shot 55.2 percent during that span but cooled off over the final four games of the series with the Suns. In Games 3-7, Gordon was 34.9 percent from the field while averaging 9.5 points per game. It's clear what version Denver needs to show up if it wants to beat the Lakers.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (+1700)
Murray's return from an ACL tear is a big reason Denver is in the position it finds itself in, which makes his long odds of being named Western Conference Finals MVP a bit of a surprise. The Nuggets run through Jokic, but there's a reason no one believed Denver had a chance to win a title the last two postseasons. At full strength, Denver is the favorite to win the West and it's because Jokic has his running mate. Against the Suns, Murray averaged 24.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.
Lakers forward LeBron James (+310)
The Nuggets are too good for Los Angeles to win without James at the top of his game, which he has been this postseason. Against the Warriors, James averaged 24.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. In Game 6, James had 30 points while shooting 71 percent from the field. Per ESPN Stats & Info, he's the second-oldest player with at least 30 points on 70 percent shooting in a playoff game since Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1987.
Lakers forward Anthony Davis (+280)
Davis began the postseason maddeningly inconsistent but was a force for the Lakers for the majority of the second round. Davis led the team with 14.5 rebounds per game, including 20-rebound games in the first and last game of the series. He averaged 21.5 points, 2.2 blocks and 1.5 steals per game to remind everyone he's one of basketball's most dominant two-way players.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (-125)
Based on what Jokic is doing, it will take a monumental effort from the Lakers to slow the former two-time regular season MVP. In the second round against Phoenix, Jokic averaged a triple-double with 34.5 points, 13.2 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game while shooting 59.4 percent. He's putting up numbers that don't seem possible for a center and doing so consistently. If he has a repeat performance against the best defensive team left in the playoffs, Jokic will not only be the Western Conference Finals MVP but also the favorite to receive the same recognition in the next round.
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