LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have a clear path to the 2020 NBA Finals now that they have to go through the Denver Nuggets—not the LA Clippers—in the Western Conference Finals.

The Lakers have been the West’s top team all season long. Los Angeles cruised to the No.1 seed with a 52-19 record, only stumbling in the seeding games when they had nothing on the line. The Lakers have been dominant in both of their playoff series, needing just five games each to eliminate the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets, both of whom were considered by many to have upset potential.

James and Anthony Davis have proven to be the NBA’s best duo. Both superstars were All-NBA First-Team selections. For all the talk about Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, neither player made the First Team, and George didn’t even make the cut for the Third Team.

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have emerged in the bubble as an elite pairing. Jokic has firmly established himself as the NBA’s best true center and possibly one of the league’s five best players. Murray went from a borderline All-Star to a superstar in just a matter of weeks, averaging 27.1 points per game in the playoffs and looking like one of the game’s most dangerous crunch-time assassins.

They simply can’t match up with James and Davis over a seven-game series.

Los Angeles is a heavy betting favorite with -625 odds to reach the NBA Finals, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Denver is a +450 underdog. The Lakers have +310 odds to sweep or win the series in six games. Lakers in five games is the favorite at +220.

Denver needed to mount a pair of 3-1 series comebacks in order to reach the conference finals. That included an epic choke by the Clippers when Leonard, George and the rest of the supporting cast crumbled in Game 7.

James is impervious to such a meltdown. Since coming up short in the 2011 NBA playoffs, James has been the most consistent superstar the league has ever seen. All he’s done in 10 playoff games at 35 years old is average 26.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 55.3% from the field.

Davis is averaging 27.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 blocks per game this postseason. He’s done it on just 16.9 field-goal attempts per contest, shooting 39.1% from three-point range.

The Nuggets have no answer for Davis. He thrived against Denver in the regular season, averaging 29.3 points in four games. The Lakers went 3-1 against the Nuggets, only losing when James didn’t play because of an injury.

Los Angeles led the West with a 106.1 defensive rating in the regular season. In the postseason, the Lakers are also first in the conference with a 105.4 defensive rating. Portland and Houston were both top-six offensive teams.

Denver has barely had a break in the bubble, playing every other day for a month. Los Angeles is well-rested with six days off in between each series.

This is where the Nuggets run out of gas.

Series Prediction: Lakers in five

Anthony Davis LeBron James Lakers
LeBron James #23 is congratulated by Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers after scoring a basket against Memphis Grizzlies during the second half at Staples Center on October 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
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