LeBron James and Anthony Davis painfully admit what went wrong for the Lakers in Game 1 against the Nuggets.In the wake of the Lakers’ loss in Game 1, what did LeBron James and Anthony Davis say?Over the last sixteen months, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets have played nine games against each other. The Nuggets have won all nine games, including last night’s 114-103 Game 1 win over LA. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a team so clearly have LeBron James’s number. The mighty Golden State Warriors didn’t have as much long-term success against LeBron as the Nuggets have since January 2023, even when they were with the Cleveland Cavaliers. But the 21-year pro has been through a lot, so he knows now is not the time to freak out.

One that has to be considered would be having Anthony Davis, a bonafide Defensive Player of the Year candidate, spending more time guarding Nikola Jokic than he did in Game 1. Jokic is perhaps the most difficult cover in the league, and in Game 1 against LA he feasted, putting up 32 points on 15-for-23 shooting.

James told the Associated Press after the game, “I thought we played some good ball tonight. We just could have been better.” When you play Denver, especially on their home court, you don’t have much room for mistakes. They’re just a team that knows what to do. Of course, they’re the defending champions, so you have to play well, make shots, and protect. After that, you can’t give them anything else.”The Lakers did play good basketball for a lot of the game. As the first half ended, LeBron James made a deep three-pointer that gave the Lakers the lead. It was the fourth time in their last nine games against the Nuggets that they went into break with a lead. But, as happened the three times before, the Lakers were buried by a Colorado storm in the second half.

The Lakers lost because of “early turnovers and poor shooting” in the third quarter, according to Anthony Davis (h/t Mike Trudell of Spectrum Sports Net). However, the Nuggets did not get off to a great start in the third quarter. There were times when the Lakers could have added to their three-point lead at halfway, but they weren’t able to. Michael Porter Jr. made a three-pointer on a second chance for the Nuggets to take the lead 72–71, giving Denver its first lead since the beginning of the game. The Nuggets would score 17 points in the next 3 minutes, beating the Lakers. Halfway through the last frame, LA got as close as six points to Denver’s lead, but that was as close as they could get.

The Denver Nuggets are a very good team, as LeBron said, so there isn’t much room for mistake. There’s no doubt that the Lakers could have won this game if you look at the stats. Colorado only made 46% of their field goal attempts, while LA made 49%. As usual, LA had a big edge at the free throw line, making twelve more shots than Denver. Most of the time, that would lead to success. But the Nuggets scored 21 more points from behind the arc than the Lakers, grabbed nine more offҽnsive rebounds, and turned the ball over eight times less than LA. In the last 24 minutes of the game, the Nuggets never turned the ball over, so they played a perfect second half.It rҽmains to be seen what changes the Lakers make before Game 2. One thing that needs to be thought about is whether Anthony Davis, who is a real contender for Defensive Player of the Year, should guard Nikola Jokic more than he did in Game 1. It’s hard to defend Jokic, who scored 32 points on 15-of-23 shooting in Game 1 against LA. He’s one of the toughest teams to defend in the league.