3 Los Angeles Lakers to blame for blowout opening night loss to Nuggets
In the 2023 NBA Playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers emerged from the Play-In Tournament and ended up going on a massive run through the postseason to reach the Western Conference Finals. And on Tuesday for the NBA's opening night, the Lakers' season began against the team that ended last year for them: the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
Unfortunately for those who bleed purple and gold, the result was the same.
The Nuggets jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter, which the Lakers tried to fight back valiantly from. Eventually, LA closed the deficit to as little as three points early in the fourth quarter, but the Nuggets turned it on. They finished the game on a 27-19 run to put away the game and secure the 119-107 victory.
It wasn't a completely hopeless effort from the Lakers, to be sure. At the same time, it was a game they'd have loved to get to begin the 2023-24 NBA season, so we have to blame some Lakers for starting the year at 0-1.
3. Rui Hachimura
When the Lakers acquired Rui Hachimura prior to last season's trade deadline, the hope was that the former Wizard would provide a real spark in the front court that had been missing outside of Anthony Davis. And at times, make no mistake, Hachimura has certainly done that.
Tuesday was not one of those times.
Hachimura only played 15 minutes off of the bench in the season opener and he got the business from Nikola Jokic whenever he was on the floor. The Nuggets superstar absolutely went to work on the veteran big and made light work of him in every capacity, whether that was scoring on him, facilitating out of pressure, or just cleaning up on the boards.
What's worse for the Lakers, though, is that Hachimura also couldn't offset that. He finished the night shooting just 3-of-10 from the field and an abysmal 0-for-3 from beyond the arc. All told, he finished the game with just six points and three rebounds in his 15 minutes of action.
Asking Hachimura -- or anyone for that matter -- to contain Jokic is never an easy task, especially in limited minutes off of the bench. Having said that, you would've hoped for some energizing minutes from Hachimura in this game and he provided nothing of the sort.