Everything You Need To Know For Day 36 Of The NBA Playoffs

Kevin C. Cox. Getty Images.

Overall I think most would agree that these bubble playoffs have been pretty awesome. Outside of the hardos that love to comment on NBA blogs that nobody is watching and nobody cares, there's no denying that these game have been delivering night in and night out basically since the opening round. The quality of basketball has been awesome which I think is in part due to the lack of travel, there has been high drama in every round and even some NBA history along the way.

Now that we are in the Conference Finals, nothing has really changed. Even in the West, where many thought the Lakers would steamroll over the Nuggets, that hasn't exactly happened….yet. Game 1 was a little suspect given they shot about 50,000 FTs which feels a little unfair, and Game 2 obviously had one of the biggest shots of the entire postseason. Which brings us to the very important Game 3. Let's get you ready.

Los Angeles Lakers (2-0) vs Denver Nuggets (0-2) 9:00pm ET

Again, why the hell are we waiting until 9pm ET? I get it, you want the West Coast fans to watch but come on. You could make this an 8pm start and everyone is still going to watch. That's annoying. 

But once the game starts, it'll be interesting to see how both teams responds. On the Lakers side, the #1 thing you don't want them to do as a Lakers fan is see them play with their food. Is this a must win for LA? No chance. But they do have an opportunity to end the series tonight. That's how huge that Anthony Davis shot was. He misses that and this series has an entirely different feel tonight tied 1-1. Here's the good news. Chances are the Lakers are not going to turn the ball over 23 times. That is an outrageous amount of turnovers with LeBron and Rondo having 11 of the 24. That led to 19 Nuggets points which is what helped them climb back into the game after falling behind by 16. They take care of the ball and they could cruise to an easy Game 3 win.

I also think we can expect LeBron James to actually show up in the fourth, especially if this is a close game and the Finals being so close. His 1-6 and 2 TO performance in 10 fourth quarter minutes was flat out terrible. How often do we see him do that shit in back to back games? I'm thinking never. That's where my mind would be as a Lakers fan heading into this game. They didn't even play all that well in the second half of Game 2 and they still won. Imagine what happens if water finds its level. 

We also should mention the work that Alex Caruso did on Jamal Murray. He matched up against Murray for a total of 4 minutes and 15 possessions and held him to 0 points and 2 turnovers. That is MASSIVE. In Game 1 he had Murray for 8 possessions and held him to 2 points. It's pretty clear the Lakers have realized that their best bet in limiting Jamal Murray is sticking Caruso on him. That's important because there is no denying his impact. Offensively the formula doesn't change for the Lakers. LeBron and AD will get theirs, they just need guys to step up and make open threes. That was always a question heading into these playoffs and the role players on this team have stepped up every single time. In Game 2 it was the 8 combined 3PM from Green/KCP/Rondo/Caruso. Kuzma didn't even make one. As a team the Lakers shot just 13-36 so there's always room for improvement.

Now on the Nuggets side, this is it. This is your season. It can be hard to bounce back after having your heart ripped out on a last second shot, trust me I've experienced it. The good news is this is not the first time the Nuggets are facing adversity this postseason. But if they won't win tonight, there is no coming back. So what's the #1 thing for them? Well they need to figure out a way to survive the minutes where Jamal Murray goes to the bench

They do that or Malone decides to play Murray for 48 minutes. Like the Lakers, the Nuggets were way too careless with the ball in that first half and they finished the game with 19 turnovers which led to 15 Nuggets points. In Game 2 they got the better whistle and won the FTA battle 33-19. They need to keep that aggressive mindset and hope Marc Davis gives them a good whistle. I say that because after going 8-24 from three in Game 2, I don't think you can rely on your outside shooting if you're the Nuggets. Play through Jokic who is showing he can get whatever he wants, and try and get Murray some cleaner looks at three (2-9).

They're also going to need another big night offensively off the bench from MPJ

and surprisingly he also held his own defensively against Kyle Kuzma, holding him to just 2 points on 12 possessions. If he can somehow replicate that defensive performance it's going to go a long way. Defense has always been the name of the game when it comes to the success of this Nuggets team, it's what got them back into Game 2 and they played great defense in the fourth quarter holding the Lakers to just 38/35% with 4 TOs. 

If they can show up on that end and take care of the ball on the other, they can regain some life in this series. The key will be forgetting everything that happened in Game 2. You know the Lakers are going to come out blazing with this opportunity in front of them, and if you're not focused because you're still thinking about that buzzer beater, you could be in a world of trouble fairly early in this game.

The Nuggets have had a pretty magical run up until this point, but now they face their biggest challenge. I know that sounds crazy because they came back from 1-3 twice, but this is a game in which a motivated LeBron can smell the NBA Finals. Now their season is truly on the line, I can't wait to see how they respond.