The Los Angeles Lakers have suffered some devastating defeats to start the 2024 NBA Playoffs. They knew they had a major obstacle to overcome, getting matched up with the defending champion Denver Nuggets, but Los Angeles has to be disappointed about heading home down 0-2.
The Lakers had double-digit leads in both games, yet came away victorious in neither. In Game 1, it was a bad third quarter that swung the game in Denver’s favor. In Game 2, the Lakers led by as many as 20 points but squandered the lead late with Jamal Murray sinking a buzzer-beater over Anthony Davis for a 101-99 win.
It is certainly disheartening losing in the fashion the Lakers did, but they should have some confidence heading back home. They have proven they can hang with the Nuggets; they just need some breaks and a little better attention to detail down the stretch to finish the job.
Another encouraging development is that some help could be on the way for the rotation. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Lakers could have Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood available as early as Game 3 on Thursday night.
Vanderbilt hasn’t played in an NBA game for nearly three months after he was injured playing against the Boston Celtics. It was originally reported that his season was over, but he has been ramping up his activity in practice in recent days.
“We’ll see how he responds to what he did today,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said when asked about Vanderbilt’s morning workout. “And still, nothing is going to change in terms of new information. It’s just a day-by-day thing. And so we have to see how he tolerates the recovery process. He exerted himself at a pretty high level today. So we’ll see how he feels tomorrow. We’ll just keep going day by day.”
If Vadnerbilt’s body responds well to the practice, there is a good chance he will be available for Game 3. Wood has been sidelined since February 14th with a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery.
Like Vanderbilt, he was considered to be out for the remainder of the 2023-24 NBA season. But, he too has been ramping up activity and there is a chance he is activated. Neither player was cleared to play in Game 2 on Monday night, but there is hope that will change in the coming days.
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