Denver Nuggets playoffs series with Los Angeles Lakers starts on Saturday

The Denver Nuggets' first round postseason matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers begins this weekend. The defending champions will host the Lakers on Saturday and Monday, then the series shifts to California on April 25.

The Nuggets are the No. 2 seed in the NBA's Western Conference and will face the No. 7 seed Lakers, who are hot off a 110-106 Play-In Game win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

The last time the Lakers won a game against the Nuggets was 2022. The Nuggets swept L.A. in the Western Conference Finals last year and defeated them in all three of their regular season meetings this season.

"They've got an MVP on their team. They've got a closer on their team. They've got high-level players, high-IQ players. And they've got a hell of a coach," LeBron James said.

Saturday's game tips off at Ball Arena at 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time. Monday's game will be a late starter -- 8 p.m. Games 3 and 4 are scheduled for April 25 (8 p.m. MT) and April 27 (6:30 p.m. MT). If necessary, Game 5 would be at Ball Arena on April 29, Game 6 would be at Crypto.com Arena on May 2 and Game 7 would be at Ball Arena on May 4.

"We just have an identity now," Michael Porter Jr. said after the Nuggets final regular season game on Sunday. "It's been a long time since we've started playing together -- our core guys. We've developed a chemistry."

Fans who'd like to cheer the team as they get ready for the NBA Playoffs can do so at a Pep-Rally at McGregor Square on Wednesday evening. It starts at 5:30 p.m. and the team has set up an RSVP form.