Schedule and 2023-24 Results
Regular Season Records: Denver 57-25, Los Angeles Lakers 47-35
Game 1 on Saturday, 20 April: Los Angeles Lakers lose at Denver, 114-pts-103
Game 2 on Monday, 22 April: Los Angeles Lakers lose at Denver, 101-pts-99
Game 3 on Thursday, 25 April: Denver wins at Los Angeles Lakers, 112-pts-105
Game 4 on Saturday, 27 April: Denver loses at Los Angeles Lakers, 119-pts-108
Game 5 on Monday, 29 April: Los Angeles Lakers lose at Denver, 108-pts-106

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 5: The Denver Nuggets hosted and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-pts-106 to complete a 4-games-1 best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1571 victory. With the series 1571 win, the Denver Nuggets improve their best-of-7 NBA playoff series record to 13-21 (with an active five-series winning streak befitting a defending NBA champion) overall and 6-10 in the Preliminary round. With the series 1571 loss, the Los Angeles Lakers see their best-of-7 NBA playoff series record fall to 74-34 overall and 9-5 in the Preliminary round. The win order for the victorious Denver Nuggets in series 1571 was WWWLW: Series 1571 thus becomes the fourteenth NBA Preliminary-round series, the 45th NBA series (all rounds), and the 105th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow that win order to completion.

After Game 4: The Los Angeles Lakers hosted and defeated the Denver Nuggets 119-pts-108 to drop the Denver Nuggets best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL series 1571 lead to 3-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Denver Nuggets have a series record of 6-0 and a Game 5 record of 5-1 (with an active five-Game 5 winning streak). When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 1-16 (with an active 13-series losing streak) and a Game 5 record of 5-12. Before their series 1571 Game 4 victory, the Los Angeles Lakers had had a 0-8 Game 4 record when trailing 3-games-nil in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series. Trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-1, the Los Angeles Lakers achieved their sole series win in series 227, over the Phoenix Suns in the 1970 NBA Quarterfinals.

After Game 3: The Denver Nuggets visited and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 112-pts-105 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1571 lead of 3-games-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-nil, the Denver Nuggets have a series record of 3-0 and a Game 4 record of 1-2. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-nil, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 0-8 and a Game 4 record of 0-8. The last best-of-7 NBA playoff series sweep by the Denver Nuggets was also of the Los Angeles Lakers, from series 1546 in the 2023 NBA Semifinals. The Denver Nuggets have become the 399th MLB/NBA/NHL team to take a three-games-nil lead in a best-of-7 playoff series; the Los Angeles Lakers will attempt to become the sixth MLB/NBA/NHL team (and the first NBA team) to surmount a three-games-nil deficit to win four-games-three. The Denver Nuggets trailed their host Los Angeles Lakers by ten points as late as after one quarter but emerged victorious: In the history of best-of-7 NBA playoff games since 1947, inclusive, road teams down ten points as late as after one quarter had a game record of only 14-70 (.167) - the Denver Nuggets thus achieve a grade-B (.100 - .199) in-game comeback in series 1571 Game 3.

After Game 2: The Denver Nuggets hosted and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 101-pts-99 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1571 lead of 2-games-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the Denver Nuggets have a series record of 7-0 and a Game 3 record of 3-4. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 2-19 (with an active six-series losing streak) and a Game 3 record of 13-8. The Denver Nuggets trailed the visiting Los Angeles Lakers by ten points as late as after three quarters in series 1571 Game 2, but prevailed: In the history of best-of-7 NBA playoff games from 1947 through 2023, inclusive, home teams down ten points as late as after three quarters had a game record of only 2-51 (.038) - the Denver Nuggets thus achieve a grade-A (.000 - .099) in-game comeback.

After Game 1: The Denver Nuggets hosted and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 114-pts-103 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1571 lead of 1-game-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Denver Nuggets have a series record of 9-7 and a Game 2 record of 7-9. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 13-26 and a Game 2 record of 18-21. With their series 1571 Game 1 victory, the Denver Nuggets extend their best-of-7 NBA playoff Game 1 winning streak to five. The Denver Nuggets trailed the visiting Los Angeles Lakers by eight points after one quarter, but won Game 1: In the history of best-of-7 NBA playoff games from 1947 through 2023, inclusive, home teams down eight points as late as after one quarter had a game record of only 32-51 (.386) - the Denver Nuggets thus achieve a grade-C in-game comeback.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2023-24 NBA regular season, the Denver Nuggets finished ten games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers. From 1947 through the 2023 NBA Finals round, when NBA teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by ten regular-season games, they have posted a best-of-7 playoff series record of 23-4 (.852) with an active five-series winning streak in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1571 is the 34th best-of-7 NBA playoff series for the Denver Nuggets, and the 108th for the Los Angeles Lakers. In best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the Denver Nuggets have an all-rounds series record of 12-21 (with an active four-series winning streak befitting a defending NBA champion), a Preliminary-round series record of 5-10, and a Game 1 record of 16-17 (with an active four-Game 1 winning streak), while the Los Angeles Lakers have an all-rounds series record of 74-33, a Preliminary-round series record of 9-4, and a Game 1 record of 68-39. Series 1571 is the seventh best-of-7 NBA playoff series meeting between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers. In their previous six best-of-7 NBA playoff series meetings, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets in the first five such series, but Denver defeated the Lakers in their last such series (series 1546, in the 2023 NBA Semifinals, swept by Denver).