Magic Johnson Identified the 'No. 1 Reason' the Lakers Can't Beat Denver

On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

This loss dropped the Lakers to 1-4 and ended their 2023-34 NBA season.

Legendary Laker Magic Johnson, like he often does, took to social media after this disappointing loss — identifying the "No. 1 reason" Los Angeles can't beat the Nuggets in a seven-game series.

"And the #1 reason the Lakers can’t beat Denver in a 7 game series is because the Nuggets are mentally and physically tougher than the Lakers," Johnson wrote on X.

The Lakers had plenty of opportunities in this first-round series, but the Nuggets continually outperformed them down the stretch. Last night's game ended with some more late-game heroics from Denver point guard Jamal Murray, who hit another go-ahead shot in the final seconds.

Johnson feels the Lakers need to make some major adjustments if they want to compete in the Western Conference moving forward.

"Laker Nation, we have a problem," he wrote in another post on X. "All the good teams in the West are young and talented: the Nuggets, the Timberwolves, the Thunder, and the Mavs. And the BIGGEST elephant in the room is the Spurs, who with Victor Wembanyama, will definitely be a playoff team next season. For the Lakers to compete with all these teams, the roster MUST improve."

The Nuggets will now take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in an exciting second-round matchup.