I think the Lakers beat the Nuggets. They've been the best team in basketball since the all star break, are an excellent defensive team, and have the 2nd and 3rd best players in the series with a very large gap to anyone else. They have a lot of depth as well, so their lesser players don't have to be on every night for them to get the requisite points from the "others". Jokic will be great, but I just don't trust Murray, Porter, Gordon, etc. to give him enough support for Denver to win 4 games. I also think this will be a Vanderbilt and Hachimura series. The Warriors were tiny and the Lakers didn't need to go with Vanderbilt and Hachimura as much (Walker and Schroder got a lot more run). Against Denver, I'd expect to see them both a lot more minutes, maybe even more than they were used against Memphis (might even see Tristan Thompson get some burn to put a fresh body on Jokic). That is why I really liked all the moves the Lakers made at the deadline, it just gave them so many more options to play match-ups in the playoffs, and Ham has done that really well so far.
I don't think it really matters who comes out of the West though, just as last year when I believed the winner of the 2nd round series involving Boston was going to win the title (with the Bucks eliminated), I think that way again. So I believe Boston will win the title dispatching Miami in 5 and then win the title in 6. Hopefully I won't be wrong this year as I was last year.
Least surprising take I’ve seen in a while. Been a while since you’ve fawned over the Lakers, who will lose 
All about match-ups. I had them losing to Phoenix in this round before the playoffs started (correctly predicted a win over Memphis and Golden State). I was totally wrong about Phoenix though. But they don't have the depth of the Lakers, which is why I do still think the Lakers will win. I thought the combo of Durant/Booker would be too much for the Nuggets to keep pace with, but the Suns just got nothing from Ayton, Paul, etc. that it didn't matter what Booker and Durant did. I don't think the Lakers "others" are going to do nothing all series long and that will be the difference. Sure some games Russell won't show up, but they have Reaves or Hachimura or Vanderbilt, etc.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Jokic was a 60/40/90 player averaging a 30 point triple double. I just don't think Murray and company have enough. I could be wrong. It is a prediction after all, but analyzing the teams I just think the Lakers match-up well with the Nuggets. They have a lot of size and play excellent defense. And they have about 6 different people that could score 20 on any given night.
That is very generous, whilst very harsh on Denver’s supporting cast (who are just better)
Ranking the players in the series Jokic is 1st then Lebron and AD (in whatever order you prefer) followed by Murray who is way behind the other 3 though a good amount ahead of the next grouping. I'd take Russell over Porter and Reaves over Gordon (especially offensively), but you could argue either way as those are a preference thing. You then have KCP, Brown, Green, and Braun for Denver vs. Schroder, Hachimura, Vanderbilt, and Walker. That pretty clearly favors the Lakers on the whole, though KCP is an excellent fit as that 5th starter for the Nuggets. The deeper bench also pretty clearly favors the Lakers with guys like Beasley and Brown over Jackson and Jordan.
As for the 6, Lebron and AD are obvious as is Russell. Reaves went for at least 20, 10 times this season (4 more in the playoffs), Schroder 11 times, Hachimura 6 times (and 3 more in the playoffs). That is 6 and doesn't even count Beasley who scored 20, 10 times in the regular season nor Walker who did it 8 times this season. The Nuggets have 4 guys in Jokic, Murray, Porter, and Gordon. The next 3 most likely KCP, Brown, and Green who collectively did it just 10 times combined this year. The Lakers just have a different class of depth than the Nuggets do.
If Denver wins it is because Jokic goes nuclear and Murray actually plays like a solid #2 basically ever game in the series. Murray can't be his typical up and down. He has to play consistently well all series long for Denver to have a shot because Lebron and AD are easily going to outpace Jokic collectively. Murray has to keep it close among the top 2 for Denver to win. I just don't think it is going to happen at least not 4 times. Even if he does though, they need Porter or Gordon to keep pace with whomever is hot for the Lakers. The Lakers just have more scoring options. They have more guys they can lean on when the top tier guys are resting. And the Lakers are an excellent defensive team. They have good length and size to defend not just Jokic, but everyone else. I'd be surprised if Jokic wasn't great, I just don't think the rest of his team is going to be good enough to beat the Lakers this year.
