Denver Nuggets Fans Celebrate Lakers' Daddy Issues After Game One Win | Westword
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Nuggets Fans Celebrate Lakers' Daddy Issues After Game One Win

Every ounce of energy seemed drained from LeBron James.
April 21, 2024
The Nuggets won in a 114-103 victory at Saturday's games against the Lakers.
The Nuggets won in a 114-103 victory at Saturday's games against the Lakers. Chris Perez
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During last year's celebration of the Denver Nuggets' first championship, sportscaster and phrasemaker Vic Lombardi declared that Nikola Jokić and company had become the Los Angeles Lakers' daddy — and thanks to the way it annoyed LeBron James and the rest of his West Coast crew, this quip quickly became a key storyline for the 2023-2024 season.

Now, after the Nuggets' 114-103 victory in their title defense's initial contest on April 20, the daddy theory is looking like a fact — and Denver loyalists on X, the service formerly known as Twitter, couldn't be more thrilled.

Yes, the Nuggets followed their sweep of the Lakers in the previous Western Conference finals by winning each regular season matchup that followed. But last night's dominating performance on national television underscored Denver's talent level and drive in ways that clearly shook Lakers players and fans alike.

Executives at ESPN were undoubtedly left shaking their heads, too.

The sports net spent much of the week leading up to the game desperately attempting to make the series look competitive; one of the lead stories on Get Up, the flagship morning show, focused on how the Lakers could actually knock Denver out of the playoffs. But such efforts were undercut by reality. Last year, baller-turned-pundit Kendrick Perkins became a pariah in the Mile High for picking against Denver prior to nearly every contest — but the best he could offer this time around was a prediction that the Lakers were capable of taking the Nuggets to a sixth or seventh game before finally falling.

At the outset of game one, this prospect seemed possible, given a fast start for L.A. and a big assist from the referees, who whistled Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson any time they so much as breathed on LeBron. (The Lakers were eventually gifted with nineteen free throws to the Nuggets' six — a disparity that hardly dispels the notion that the NBA favors L.A.) Gordon and Watson rapidly picked up a pair of fouls apiece, forcing them to sit for a significant slice of the first two stanzas, and their absence, coupled with some cold shooting from every Nugget other than Jokić, helped L.A. build up a double-digit lead. But toward the end of the second quarter, the Nugs imposed their will on the defensive end at the same time shots finally began to fall. Only a last-second James three from deeper than deep kept the Lakers in the lead at halftime.

This margin was erased, and then some, in the third quarter, when Jokić, who is currently promoting the latest Despicable Me movie by playing up his resemblance to protagonist Gru, got some help from his minions. Jamal Murray, who seemed to be portraying a bricklayer early on, finally started hitting from long distance, as did Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

But the happiest surprise was the turnaround of Michael Porter Jr. During most of last year's playoffs, the acclaimed sharp-shooter seemed to fade as the spotlight brightened, and most of his early long-distance attempts on Saturday were off the mark, too. But despite having plenty of reasons for being distracted (one of his brothers was recently banned from the NBA amid a gambling scandal, while the other earned a prison sentence for vehicular homicide), he turned his focus to his short game, and after making several shots in or near the paint, the rest of his skill set opened up. He finished with nineteen points and eight rebounds.

The Lakers never recovered from this onslaught. As the clock ticked down, James looked as if every ounce of energy had drained from his perfectly sculpted form. Likewise, Anthony Davis, who had great numbers (thirty points, fourteen rebounds), seemed worn down and dispirited. And since L.A. head coach Darvin Ham has no choice but to play the pair for forty minutes-plus if he wants his crew to have a chance, this situation appears likely to get worse as the series continues.

The Nuggets faithful couldn't be happier about this scenario, as is clear from our picks for the twenty most memorable posts after the game. Count them down below:


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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.
Contact: Michael Roberts
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