The third-seeded Denver Nuggets’ Game 7 victory against the Los Angeles Clippers set up a Western Conference finals date with a top-seeded L.A. Lakers team that had long since ousted the Houston Rockets in the second round of the NBA playoffs. The two franchises also met in the 2009 conference finals. Denver is making its first return trip since, and the Lakers are on the verge of the Finals for the first time since 2010.
How they got here
After failing to make the playoffs for the sixth straight season, the Lakers mortgaged their future to win the Anthony Davis sweepstakes, delivering LeBron James arguably the most talented teammate of his career.