Lakers PG Looking Forward to Challenge of Taking Down Nuggets This Year
The 47-25 Los Angeles Lakers open their 2-7 first round playoff series against the mighty 57-25 Denver Nuggets with +300 odds to vanquish the reigning champs, making them major underdogs. Denver is heavily favored to win with -375 odds.
A new Lakers addition also has some firsthand 2023 playoff experience against Nikola Jokic and co.'s epic offensive clinics.
Reserve Los Angeles guard Gabe Vincent, who served as the starting point guard of the Miami Heat during that team's epic run to the NBA Finals as the No. 8 seed, spoke at length about the threat that Denver represents, per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.
“They force you to play a certain way. They play a really good brand of basketball. You just can’t get bored with the game,” Vincent observed. “So you got to trust it, trust the process of it because they’re going to play their way the entirety of the game and they outlast a lot of people. So it’s going to be a hard-fought game. It’s going to be a mental challenge as well as a physical challenge, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”
The 6'3" UC Santa Barbara product, 27, has barely played during his inaugural season with the Lakers. In 11 regular season games, he averaged just 3.1 points on .306/.107/.500 shooting splits and 1.9 assists, as he grappled with a left knee effusion injury that eventually required surgery for much of the year.
Although he was expected to be a two-way sixth man piece this year, Vincent's offensive game has yet to return following the knee injury. Head coach Darvin Ham is still using him as a point-of-attack defender in games that matter, however. He played 13:22 in LA's 110-106 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, scoring zero points while registering a +10 plus-minus thanks to his solid work on the other end of the floor.
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