One of the keys to Denver having a shot in the Western Conference Finals: Keep the Lakers out of transition.
That did not go so well to start.
Denver had seven second-quarter turnovers, which allowed the Lakers to get out an run and the result was this highlight, Alex Caruso to LeBron James for the monster alley-oop.
CARUSO TO LEBRON 💥 pic.twitter.com/W8wHUKpdRD
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) September 19, 2020
The Lakers added more points per 100 possessions in transition than any other team in the league, and the Lakers have started a higher percentage of their offense in transition than any other team in the playoffs (16.5% of their plays start that way, stats via Cleaning the Glass). Denver has improved halfcourt defense this postseason, but their transition defense has struggled in the playoffs. That is potentially a bad combo for the Nuggets.