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Celtics vs Heat Live Stream: The LA Clippers became the second team in this year’s playoffs to blow a 3-1 lead against the Denver Nuggets. They lost Games 5 and 6 of the series despite leading by 16 and 19 points respectively.They have been the butt of all jokes and criticism on social media over the past 2 days, and with good reason. The rivalry between the Clippers and the Lakers was the major talk throughout the season. Many believed that these are the top two teams in the league, based in the same town as well.

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The Clippers have finished above the Lakers for 7 straight seasons. Before Anthony Davis’s arrival, the Lakers had missed 6 straight playoffs. Some bad blood was expected between the crosstown rivals.However, with the Clippers never having made a conference final, it seems as if LeBron James was trying to take a dig the Kawhi Leonard led franchise.

While the two teams were pitted to face each other in the WCF all year long, LeBron sort of hinted in his recent interview, that the Lakers are far superior and did not really have any scores to settle with the Clippers.The Lakers have behaved in an utmost professional manner so far during the bubble. They have been buoyed by the addition of their family members to the setting. This has normalized life away from home for so long for them.

All the Lakers need to do now is beat the lesser talented Nuggets. Having LeBron James on one’s side does kind of help seal that deal. James will look to make the 10th NBA Finals of his career.After making NBA history on Tuesday by completing a second consecutive 3-1 playoff series comeback, the emotions are high for the Denver Nuggets. But coach Mike Malone is stressing the point: They can’t be satisfied with themselves yet.

“I think the biggest question aside from themes, plays, personnel, is are our guys satisfied,” Malone said Thursday. “Man, we just made playoff history, down 3-1, down 3-1 [again]. We’ve gotten to the Western Conference finals [for] only the second time in franchise history. Take a breath, come up for air. The Lakers aren’t coming up for air. They’ve been waiting.”

The Nuggets came back in their opening-round series from down 3-1 against the Utah Jazz to win in seven games, then did it all over again against the LA Clippers, advancing to take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the Westen Conference finals, which begin Friday in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.”I know LeBron [James], having been around him,” said Malone, who was an assistant in Cleveland during James’ time there. “They’re going to try to come out and send a message tomorrow. I don’t think our guys are satisfied. That’s going to be the greatest challenge tomorrow, can we match the intensity. I thought in Game 1 against the Clippers we did it for a quarter and a half, couldn’t sustain it. I think we were just gassed.”

Guard Jamal Murray admitted after Game 1 against the Clippers that he felt the wear and tear of the previous series and that it played a factor in the Nuggets fading down the stretch. That turnaround was much quicker, though, with only one day between games. The Nuggets have two days to recover and prepare before taking on the Lakers on Friday. The Lakers, on the other hand, took care of both their series in five games and haven’t played since last Saturday.

“I think the Lakers are probably the most rested team in the bubble,” Malone said. “They’ve taken care of business. Give them credit in that regard.” The Nuggets found their legs — and their adjustments — midway through the series against the Clippers. And while it gives them confidence they can get out of any situation, they’re hoping to build on the momentum of the series, rather than reset and ease into it again.

“If you remember, I think it’s the third or fourth game against the Clippers, we kind of felt good because we played good and everybody was playing for each other,” center Nikola Jokic said. “We lost the game, but we kind of put up the fight. I think we want that feeling again. We are playing free, playing for each other, winning. We are hungry for that feeling.”

A big motivational tactic the Nuggets have been leaning into this postseason is the lack of faith from fans and media. They were the underdog against the Clippers (all 19 ESPN experts picked LA) and they expect the same against the Lakers. Though Jokic said he thought the Nuggets “surprised” the Clippers, the secret is out now; he doesn’t expect to do the same against the Lakers.

“I mean, even when we beat the Clippers, they were talking how the Clippers lost. They don’t think about us. Not even the Lakers, not even anybody,” Jokic said. “I think they’re really focused. You can just see how they’re playing. Even the Portland series, the Houston series, they are really locked in. They will not take us for granted. We kind of surprised the Clippers. Probably they don’t want to make that happen to them, so I think they’re going to be really focused and really locked in.”

The Nuggets are 6-0 in elimination games this postseason, finding their best basketball in the most tense moments. It gave Malone an idea. “Well, we actually did petition the league to see if we could just get right to it and start 3-1 down, save everybody a lot of time, catch up to the Eastern Conference,” he joked. “But that was shot down.”

Though if Malone’s looking for some pregame speech material for Friday’s Game 1, he could remind his team that, technically, it is down 3-1 to the Lakers already — the Nuggets lost the regular-season series 3-1.Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, who has one year remaining on his contract, on Thursday said he has yet to enter discussions with team ownership about an extension. “No, I haven’t had discussions, and honestly, coming out of this, things are a little raw,” Ujiri said on a conference call with reporters. “I’m going to reflect a little bit, and we will address it when it’s time to address it.”

Instead, Ujiri said his focus has been on getting extensions for the other members of his leadership team, as general manager Bobby Webster and head coach Nick Nurse were on the same contract cycle as Ujiri.Ujiri was “super excited” after Nurse, the Coach of the Year this season after winning an NBA title with the Raptors last season, received a multiyear extension last week. Webster also is on the verge of getting an extension, Ujiri said.

“The future is bright,” Ujiri said. “But in terms of me, I haven’t had those conversations, and I’ll wait until those happen in the future.”The Raptors also have plenty of questions to answer this offseason — beginning with free agents Fred VanVleet, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol. VanVleet’s future is the most pressing concern, as he is likely to have a robust market and Toronto will have to mind its cap space as it hopes to pursue Antetokounmpo next year. Ibaka and Gasol, on the other hand, both could be candidates to return on one-year deals.

Ujiri said he would like to bring back all three, but the Raptors have to balance both the short and long term in deciding how to approach this offseason and beyond. “We do respect who our players are. Yes, they are a priority. Fred is a priority for us. Our bigs are a priority. Serge is a priority,” Ujiri said. “We have to really attack this head-on and we know where their game is. We know how much they can improve. We try to project that as much as we can. We know where they have come from too, because we have gone through all these struggles with all these guys and we mutually appreciate that.”

One of the players who noticeably struggled with life inside the league’s bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort was Pascal Siakam. The 26-year-old All-Star forward, who earned a second-team All-NBA nod Wednesday, averaged just 14.9 points on 39.4% shooting during a seven-game loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.Siakam shot a dismal 4-for-32 from 3-point range during the series — failing to make a single shot from that distance over the final three games.