National Basketball Association

Lakers-Nuggets Western Conference finals: 5 things to watch

Updated May. 16, 2023 4:11 p.m. ET

The Western Conference finals showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, which begins Tuesday night, qualifies as a legitimate surprise.

Entering the postseason, both teams were severely underestimated.

Even though the Nuggets secured the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference with a 53-29 record, they flew under the radar before dismantling the Phoenix Suns in the second round of the playoffs, with some believing that their regular-season success was a fluke due to other teams struggling with injuries or needing more time to jell after remaking their rosters.

The Nuggets disproved that.

Look no further than Jokic's 53-point performance against the Suns in Game 4 or his five triple-doubles this postseason. And then there's Jamal Murray, who went from averaging 20 points this season to scoring at least 30 points in four games these playoffs.

As for the Lakers, no one thought they'd be in this position just a few months ago when they were in 13th place in the West. But they revamped their roster, adding six new players before the trade deadline. They went on to claw their way to the seventh seed. And now, with both James and Davis healthy, they're real title contenders.

LeBron, Lakers advance to WCF, who deserves the most credit for their success?

Here are the five storylines you need to know about this series.

1. LeBron James is on a mission to win his fifth championship

James has long made it clear how much he wanted to be back in the position to compete for another title.

After the Lakers missed the playoffs last season, he tweeted last April, "I can/will NOT miss the post season again for my career! This s--- HURT."

Then during All-Star weekend this year, with the Lakers' postseason hopes in jeopardy, James called the stretch-run "23 of the most important games of my career for a regular season."

The Lakers not only made the playoffs – getting past the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies and the sixth-seeded Golden State Warriors – but now James is just eight wins away from his fifth championship.

Only 13 NBA players have won five rings, a list that includes Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Magic Johnson.

If James could carry the Lakers all the way this season, it would mean he'd be just one ring shy of his idol, Michael Jordan, one of four players to win six rings.

2. Nikola Jokic set his sights on a championship this season – not MVP

After Jokic's superb season, some were upset that he didn't win his third straight MVP.

Jokic was not among them.

When asked in March what becoming only the fourth person in league history to win three consecutive MVPs would mean to him, Jokic responded, "I don't know. It doesn't mean anything special. I'm just trying to compete, win games."

Then, before Joel Embiid was named MVP earlier this month, Jokic said he had "zero interest" in the announcement, adding, "Hopefully, it's going to be a sunny day, so I can be in the swimming pool."

Winning a championship is another story.

Jokic, who was selected by the Nuggets as the 41st overall pick in the 2014 draft, has never reached the NBA Finals and the Nuggets' playoff shortcomings have led to some questioning of him, despite the MVP accolades.

During his back-to-back MVP run, the Nuggets never advanced past the second round of the playoffs. Now, he finally has a shot at winning the hardware that he truly cares about: The Larry O'Brien trophy.

The problem? A guy named LeBron who has been to the Finals 10 times over his 20-season career.

3. Anthony Davis vs. Nikola Jokic ... this should be interesting

The most intriguing matchup of this series is Davis vs. Jokic, two big men with very different strengths.

Jokic has made himself virtually unstoppable on the offensive end. He has a soft touch, brute force and incredible passing skills. This postseason, he has averaged 30.7 points, 12.8 rebounds and 9.7 assists. His weakness? Defense.

Meanwhile, defense is Davis' bread and butter, especially this postseason. Davis has averaged fewer points these playoffs than he did during the Lakers' championship run in 2020 (21.2 points compared to 27.7 points), but he has averaged more rebounds (14.1 compared to 9.7) and blocks (3.3 compared to 1.4).

Davis is going to have his hands full against Jokic, whom Kevin Durant said is "going to go down as one of the all-time great centers to ever touch a basketball" after the Nuggets eliminated the Suns in six games.

But, luckily for Davis, he doesn't have to guard Jokic and carry the Lakers on the offensive end for his team to be successful. In fact, this postseason, four Lakers players are averaging at least 15 points a game: James (23.4 points), Davis, D'Angelo Russell (15.7 points) and Austin Reaves (15.4 points).

For Jokic, the challenge will be dealing with Davis' athleticism on both ends of the court. For Davis, the challenge will be stopping a guy who seemingly can't be stopped on the offensive end.

Can Anthony Davis stay consistent for Lakers in WCF?

4. This is a rematch of the bubble Western Conference finals. Does that matter?

The Lakers and Nuggets met in the 2020 Western Conference finals in Orlando, but not much can be gleaned from that meeting.

The Lakers are a completely different team, only returning two players from their 2020 championship roster: James and Davis.

The Nuggets have a bit more continuity, returning Jokic, Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and head coach Michael Malone.

The Nuggets are more experienced and tougher now.

And the Lakers are practically unrecognizable, with even their stars shifting their roles. (James was the team's primary point guard in 2020, now he primarily plays power forward. And as mentioned, Davis has been much more defensively focused these playoffs.)

In 2020, the Nuggets came back from two 3-1 series deficits against the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers to advance to the conference finals, but fell to the Lakers in five games.

Meanwhile, the Lakers went on to win their first championship in a decade, beating the Miami Heat in six games. Miami is back in the Eastern Conference finals this year, leaving the door open for an NBA Finals rematch too.

LeBron, Lakers battle top-seeded Nuggets in Game 1 of WCF

5. The resurgence of Jamal Murray

Murray had a legendary bubble run, averaging 26.5 points on 50.5 percent shooting from the field and 45.3 percent from beyond the arc with two 50-point performances against the Jazz.

Since then, he has missed more than a season because of knee surgery.

But Murray has excelled again these playoffs, averaging 25.9 points, 6.5 assists and 5.2 rebounds. Murray has helped take the pressure off Jokic and made the Nuggets a much tougher team to guard.

For the Nuggets to beat the Lakers, Murray has to be at the top of his game.

Then again, the Lakers' defense has been so good that they were even able to bottle up Steph Curry at times in their second-round series against the defending champions.

Throughout the playoffs, the Lakers have had the top defensive rating in the league (106.5). The Nuggets have had the top offensive rating (118.7) over that period.

Let the fun begin.

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.

FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience