NUGGETS -at- LAKERS - 5/19 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Shapeshifting... "The Association has chosen a new opponent," Angel explains. "They are strong, but have yet to face a true challenge." She leads you through a switchback trail to a vantage point. Here, rolling hills meet the darkened sky. You're overlook a forest of coral trees, their gray branches twist like fingers reaching skyward. "Why here?" you ask.

"Don't know. The Horsemen have their ways," she says. "These are the official city trees. They're from South Africa and revered by Zulu culture. They are said to have magical qualities."

One by one, the Horsemen appear at the top of a ridgeline. Slowly, they enter the forest and, immediately, they come under attack. They are on the defensive until the one called Death shapeshifts. He is a leopard on the prowl. He works among the trees, mauling their opponents with precision. He is relentless and unshaken.

Screams come from both sides. Another Death Riders shapeshifs, and now there's a cobra loose. He has just struck a devastating blow. The Horsemen's opponent flees and the familiar bells begin to toll. You count them one by one...five...six...seven...and they stop. The Four Horsemen have won.

The Horsemen follow the switchback trail you took and pass by in procession. Death underhands something to you. It glimmers in gold as it slowly arches toward you. With a basket catch, you snag it and stare in wonder. It's a key. "What's this for?" you ask as the Horsemen ride off. Angel smiles, "Just keep it safe, pretty boy."

Suddenly, your iPhone repeats the same bells that rang through these hills. Someone has installed an app called "Four Horsemen." Up pops a message from DancingBarry:

The Four Horsemen were here. They were under siege early, but struck back late. It was Death who imposed his will. He worked among the trees and went for the kill. He had help in various forms, but will need more as this battle continues.

They will meet again. I will continue to track them...

That wasn't ice water in Kobe's veins, that was liquid nitrogen. Kobe Bryant had the game in his hands down the stretch. All eyes on him, he sank clutch freethrow after clutch freethrow to carry the Lakers to a come-from-behind 105-103 win over Denver.

Kobe's sensational 40-point game was only outshined by a clutch steal from Trevor Ariza with 30 seconds left. He jumped in front of Billups on an inbounds pass to swipe the ball and take a key possession away.

The Lakers trailed early in this game. They looked confused as to how they should attack the Nuggets, who were fronting and pressuring the passing lanes. They fell behind by 13 points. Kobe shifted his attack in this game to work the post with more consistency than we've seen in these playoffs. "We just had to push through," Kobe said. "It was a gut check for us."

It was the only real inside presence the Lakers were able to establish. "They out-muscled us, put pressure on the passers, took the angles away from us," Phil said. "We had very limited post passes in this game and as a result Pau had very few touches."

The Lakers will start making adjustments. That is the kind of D that Denver wanted in this first match-up to steal this first home game. Now, the Laker counters will start coming.

"We played a very good game," George Karl said. "The only thing we did poorly probably at the end of the game at a close-game situation was turn it over on the Ariza play."


Kobe -- -- It was fitting that Kobe grabbed the final rebound off a purposely missed freethrow to secure the win for the Lakers. He won this game at the freethrow line down the stretch. The Lakers needed everyone of those puppies and he came through. Was there any doubt? Offensively, Kobe went straight to the post early and often against the Nuggets. This helped give the Lakers some inside-out play and was especially important with the way the Nuggets were able to deny the ball to our bigmen. The Nuggets have their hands full and are sending multiple defenders at him. Defensively, he started on Billups, hawked J.R. Smith at other points and then battled with the bigger Carmelo late in the second half. Some great defensive effort from Kobe while he still did the heavy lifting on the offensive end. Kobe's finger popped out of joint when he couldn't secure a pass and ran into Kenyon Martin. Same finger he hurt against Cleveland. They popped it back in and taped it up. "It was good to go," he said. He picked up his fifth tech in this game. "I won't get another one. I won't get another one," he said. The Stats: He scored 40 points on 13-28 shooting (2-3 from three, 12-13 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 43 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He was swatted on a step-through at the rim. He missed a turnaround from the midpost. He posted up, missed, but put it back in easily. He backed Jones down, who then flopped, and Kobe knocked down a bank over him. He lost Jones with a behind-the-back dribble in transition and pulled up for an open FT jumper. He swished a baseline turnaround. He missed a long turnaround. He picked up a reach foul 40-feet from the hoop on Billups (he needs to watch those while covering Billups). He missed a turnaround from the midpost. He picked up a phantom second foul on a great swat on a Billups drive, bogus. He missed another long turnaround, fading away from the midpost. He was hit on a pull-up jumper, he made both FTs. Bad turnaround jumper from the corner. Quick attack this time down the lane from the elbow post-up spot and he threw down. He missed a three. He was fouled in the post by Melo (tech for Melo), he made the tech. He sank an open three behind a screen. His layup looked goaltended with no call. He sank an And-1 from the elbow over Jones, he missed the FT. He hit Fisher for three at the buzzer. He had 18 points on 7-16 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He missed a long wing jumper to start the half. He dunked off the curl down the lane when Pau found him. He hit Lamar for the dunk on the break. He attacked, missed a layup, but dunked it in. He missed a layup, bit Pau got it back. He posted up and scored an easy bank (he wanted the foul). He attacked Smith, took all kinds of contact with no call, then was called for a tech when he slammed the ball and fumbled it. He drew a push-off foul on Smith, just inside his jersey on that defensive stand. He swatted Kenyon's dunk attempt from behind. He missed a wing jumper. Down 5, he hit a three over Smith. He got shed by Melo for an offensive board putback. He gave up a dunk to Melo off a baseline cut. He wheeled around defenders and hit an And-1 floater over Nene and Andersen with his left, he made the FT. He drew FTs on a turnaround over Carter at the elbow, he made both. He spun away from a double and hit a short baseline jumper. He was stripped while trying to run the two-man game. He swished a 19-footer from the wing out of a timeout. He attacked and kicked to DFish for the corner three to take a lead with 2:20 left. He missed a wing pull-up jumper with 35 seconds left, but we got it back. He was fouled with 30.5 seconds left and the score tied, he made both clutch ones. He attacked down the lane with 10 seconds left and drew FTs up by 2, he made both like he was all alone in the gym to give the Lakers a 4-point lead. He was fouled again with 5.8 seconds left up by 1, he made both, allowing the Lakers to foul up by 3.

Gasol -- -- The Lakers won this game despite not having their one-two punch in action. Out of the gates, we didn't look to get him the ball. In fact, it took a timeout from Phil after 5 minutes for Pau to get his first low-post touch. So, instead we start the game with bricks from DFish and Ariza and no touches from Pau. Ariza could have found him on a few passes, but didn't in that early stretch. We are also going to pull Pau out of the paint defensively at times to free up space for Kobe, but we also need to switch gears more effectively and get him opportunities to go to work. The Nuggets, for their part, are also denying him the ball. They are overplaying and fronting when he moves weak to strong sometimes. The triangle has counters for these. Look for the Lakers to start to dig deeper into their offensive sequences to get him the ball. Kobe might also post up, but start looking for Pau flashing off the ball (that was open a number of times). He needs to get physical and seal early and often. Defensively, our bigs were late to rotate and not on the same page at times. This resulted in a number dunks for the Nugget bigmen. Late in the game, however, Pau came up with two big defensive stops when the Lakers needed them the most. Excellent job on the boards, too, tonight. My intro notes are longer than my game notes for him, unfortunately. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-9 shooting (3-5 from the line) to go with 14 boards (6 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 42 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He missed a baseline turnaround on his first low-post touch after 5 minutes. He got his first points with 1:37 left in the first quarter when he cleaned up a Kobe miss with an And-1, he made the FT. He tipped in an Ariza layup. Second Half: He hit Kobe cutting from the weakside for the dunk. He swished a face-up wing jumper. He dunked cutting off of Luke who grabbed an offensive board and hit him. Kenyon hit a runner right over him. He kicked out to Farmar for three. Clutch block on Nene under the hoop with 2:49 left, down 2. clutch D again with 2:07 taking a charge on Melo on a double team. He drew FTs in the post on the other end against Martin, he missed both with 1:53 left. He was fouled again on an offensive board on the next possession, he went to the line down by 2, he made both to tie it.

Bynum -- -- Drew got the few early post touches by fighting for good position, and he was effective. The Lakers are going to need more of that. Foul trouble, however, limited his action tonight. Defensively, he was a step slow anticipating the action. His rotations were also off. If he wants to stay in the game and out of foul trouble, he needs to study our schemes well on that end of the floor. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go wtih 6 boards, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a turnaround in the paint. He sank a turnaround on deep post position. He was called for three seconds away from the ball, careless. He lost Nene with an up and under reverse. He drew FTs after pulling down an offensive board, he made both. He was blocked under the hoop going up weakly. He picked up a phantom foul on offensive glass (totally bogus, refs thought he pushed off, didn't happen...Bynum should keep his hands up, so the refs can at least see they aren't pushing off). Poor rotation and he gave up an And-1 foul and had to sit for Powell. Second Half: Late to get to Melo and he picked up his fourth foul on the first defensive stand.

Ariza -- -- With 30 seconds left, Trevor jumped the slow moving pass to Billups on an inbounds. He snagged it like a safety picking off a clutch interception. The Lakers led by 2 points and were able to get a critical stop to go up by 4. That was the play of the game and Ariza's biggest play of the season. It was a rough game for Ariza against Carmelo Anthony, who got off to a fast start against him. He had better defense on possessions agianst Billups. Offensively, he's going to need to step up since the Nuggets will be collapsing off him and other to help elsewhere. Ariza hit a huge three in the fourth on one such sequence. The D will be scrambling to recover to him. He needs to attack off the three line and set up his bigmen when the D collapses. Throw it up at the rim for bigs, Trevor. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-8 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed a three on our first attempt of the game. Horrible pass out of the Tri trying to create, layup the other way. He swished a step-back baseline jumper. He missed another three. He missed a runner in the lane. He was fouled trying to put a poster job on Kleiza, he made one FT. He pressured Melo to step out of bounds. He missed a layup on the break. Second Half: He missed a three. He double dribbled in the lane on the next possession. He picked up back-to-back fouls on one defensive stand. Bad overload when Lamar ws already doing it, he gave up a three to Melo. He was stripped with no call, Staples booing the refs. He swiped a pass, pushed it up and hit Fisher trailing for the layup. He picked up another foul trying to D-up Melo off the dribble. he drained a huge three wtih 4 minutes left to cut the lead to 2. He gave up an offensive board to Melo and a score with 3:25 left. He was body checked while after grabbing a loose ball and lost it, no call. Huge ass, clutch steal with 30 seconds left on an inbounds up by 2 points. Billups swished a step-back three after stepping out of bounds with no call.

Fisher -- -- The moment the first half buzzer went off, DFish's game seemed to change. He was 0-6 in the first half before finally hitting a three at the buzzer, giving the Lakers a lead at halftime. (He'd make 5-7 after that 0-6 start.) That three wouldn't be his first clutch make. It was an inside-out possession and he got a few of those later, including a big three with 2:20 left to once again take the lead. Several of his misses were not out of the offense. Those inside-out possessions are the ones he needs to take and make. The early offense 22-footers or the pound-the-dribble, stall-the-offense chucks were hurting the Lakers again and again. The coaches need to go over some of his shot selection with him. If you want more touches in the post, you need to limit some of these forced chucks by DFish. Hopefully, the 3-6 from three in this game is a sign that Fish may snap out of his shooting slump. We need him to stretch the floor. Defensively, Kobe took Billups and Fisher slipped over to the easier covers at the two spot for stretches. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-13 shooting (3-6 from three) to go with 2 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He barely hit rim on a three attempt. He drew a charge on Jones in transition. Horrible pass, Bynum was wide open and he threw it three feet too short (good idea, bad execution). He missed another three behind a screen. He bricked an early offense 22-footer, just poor, poor shot selection. He was swatted easily on a drive. He stalled the offense and chucked from three, brick. He missed an 18-footer when Kobe was open off a screen, uggh. Finally, DFish drained a corner three on the Kobe kickout at the buzzer. Second Half: He missed a wing pull-up jumper in transition. He trailed the break, took the pass from Ariza and scored the easy layup. He attacked from the corner and scored a layup with the shotclock low. He sank a corner three on the next possession. He drained a corner three on the drive and kick from Kobe with 2:20 left to take a 1-point lead. He missed a chuck at a three with the shotclock running down, Pau rebounded it and drew FTs. He took the foul up by 3 with 3.2 seconds left, well done.

Lamar -- -- Some sloppy plays in the fourth quarter costing the Lakers possessions on both ends...but Lamar came up with a huge play that might go forgotten. With under a minute left, he went to the floor for a loose ball and tied up Andersen. He then won the jumpball against him. That's getting a possession back. Huge play, great effort, huge possession. Our bigmen struggled to produce against the Denver D. Lamar needs to work with speed off the dribble. If he can break down his man and draw the other bigman to him, that should open up some nice passing sequences to Pau or Bynum. One of our best sequences in this game was to start the fourth quarter when the Lamar/Bynum unit reeled in the Nuggets after their strong first quarter. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 8 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He picked up a foul at midcourt as soon as he entered the game. He missed a long jumper. He swished a wing three. He was called for a weak over the back foul on Nene and Phil sat him for Bynum after LO picked up his third foul. Second Half: He had an 8-second violation not aware of the clock. He was called for a quick 3-second call. He pushed out the break, gave it up, got it back and dunked. He hit a jumphook in early offense. He missed a short jumphook off an offensive board. He missed on a drive to his right, getting dumped to the floor. He knocked a defensive board away from Bynum midway through the fourth. He blocked Melo on help D, he then looked confused on the offensive possession and gave the ball right back. He missed a fading runner on the next possession. Clutch win of a jumpball with the score tied and 55 seconds remaining after Lamar went to the floor to tie up Andersen.

Luke -- -- I'm surprised we didn't see a little more of Luke in this game defensively on Melo, considering how badly we got torched at times. Ariza may be able to dial it in better (it would be hard not to), but you could see some more of Luke on him earlier in the game. We played well when he was out there. In fact, Luke led all Lakers in the +/- stat (the bench had some good stints). There was a key play late in the game from Luke where he fought for an offensive board against Andersen, won it by bodying him up and then he hit Pau for a dunk. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He missed a heave at the first quarter buzzer. He missed an open 17-footer. He hit a runner down the middle of the lane. He sank a corner three in transition. Second Half: He missed a jumphook over Melo. He dribbled a handoff off his leg. He grabbed an offensive board and hit Pau cutting for the dunk.

Brown -- -- Now the debate may begin about whether to start Brown over DFish. Fisher played a very good second half, so I doubt that happens...but man, that first half from Fisher was brutal. Sasha didn't look much better, either. Brown didn't do much in this game, didn't have a lot of minutes, but I don't think he's forcing up the same kind of garbage that DFish does at times. He'll run the offense more. Plus, Brown had been money on open threes. On the other hand, some of our ball reversals and deep Triangle sequences often rely on Fish. That will be key for our bigmen. Defensively, when matched up with Billups, you could see Chauncey get a lot more aggressive. Brown has his work cut out for him. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He drained a wing three on his first attempt. Second Half: He missed a layup trying to stretch out from under backboard. He was called for setting a moving screen. He missed a baseline jumper. He hit the floor hard after pushing out the break and getting body checked at midcourt. He missed a wing three. He got leveled on a screen in the back court, but got back up and hounded Billups into a tough miss at the third-quarter buzzer. He overplayed Billups and it led to an And-1 for Andersen.

Vujacic -- -- Well, Sasha put up his typical numbers again. If he's going to miss shots, at least make them good ones. The Lakers can't affort the early offense chucks when we haven't gotten the ball to our strengths yet. Going 0-3 in the fourth quarter isn't going to cut it. Again, Brown might be better suited for some minutes here. Defensively, he did fine. The Lakers went with some taller lineups at times with him at PG briefly. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 2 boards and 2 fouls in 13 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He swished a corner three on his first attempt (actually looked good as soon as it left his hands). He drew a moving screen call on Andersen. He may have gotten a piece of a Smith jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. Second Half: He was swatted easily by Andersen on a drive (Sasha had no chance on that drive). He missed an early offense corner three. He missed a sideline three.

Farmar -- -- Where will Phil find Farmar's minutes in this series? Farmar's minutes mostly corresponded to the minutes that Billups sat on the bench. There were a few minutes where he matched up with Carter when Billups was also on the floor. Phil will likely avoid the Billups/Farmar matchup at all costs because of Billups vet savvy and size. Kobe will cover Billups for stretches, so Farmar could go against Jones, but again, that's a big guard and you also have potential cross-match issues where Farmar would have to defend Billups. He can't handle J.R. Smith, although he did dog him well on a few possessions when cross-matched. If those second units are playing well, maybe Phil let's Farmar some brief PT against Billups, but I wouldn't count on it. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 9 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed a corner three. Nice pressure help D on Smith to force a turnover. Superb job running off the three line on a kickout to get an easier 16-footer (more please). He missed a step-back corner three. He got hit on a jumper right in front of the officials, no call, wow. That should been FTs for sure. Second Half: He drained a wing three off the Pau kickout.

Powell -- -- With Lamar and Bynum in foul trouble, we had to go to Powell for some minutes to close the first half. He played his role well and helped the Lakers not only stay afloat but take that halftime lead. Aside from a backcourt foul, he didn't hurt the Lakers and manufactured 4 points. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-1 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 1 block and 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He faced up with some space and hit a wing jumper right after entering the game. He hit Kobe behind a screen for a three. Great job fighting down low for position and he drew FTs on the pass, he made both. Bad foul on Smith in the backcourt for FTs. Second Half: Did not play in the second half.

Mbenga -- -- He came in long enough to get dunked on. That was about it for Mbenga. The Stats: No stats. The Action: Nothing to report.

Phil -- -- First several possessions ended up being jumpers for Ariza. The Lakers trailed 10-2. Pau didn't get a low-post touch in the first 5 minutes. Out of a timeout, Phil went right to him on the first possession... The Lakers trailed 20-12 when Phil brought in Lamar for Bynum, Luke for Ariza, Sasha for Fisher... He then subbed in Brown for Kobe... The Lakers trailed 31-23 after the first quarter. Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup. They cut the lead to 35-32, forcing a Denver timeout... Phil later brought in Bynum for Lamar who had three fouls, then brought in Powell for Bynum after Drew picked up his third foul... The Lakers led 55-54 at the half, reeling back in the Nuggets after a 13-point lead. The Lakers shot 38 percent (but had 9 offensive boards), the Nuggets shot 53 percent. The Laker bench outscored the Nuggets bench 20-3 in the first half. The Nuggets front line dominated the Laker front line. Too many dunks and easy looks... Phil had to bring in Lamar after a minute and half when Bynum picked up his fourth early in the third. Lamar played the third without picking up another foul... The Nuggets had a 76-74 lead going into the fourth quarter... "We have to have better execution right now...we're turning the ball over, not making the right passes," Phil said. They struggled to get that at times in the fourth... Melo was outmuscling both Kobe and Ariza on the boards... Tied up with 35 seconds left after just missing a shot, but getting the rebound back, Phil called a timeout. Kobe drew FTs with 30 seconds left (two-for-one) when he attacked... Phil kept Ariza on Billups and Kobe on Melo down the stretch. This would pay off big... He put Lamar on an inbounds pass against a smaller guard. Ariza stole the inbounds pass to Billups with 30 seconds left as it was lobbed over Lamar's outstretched arms... Phil told his guards to take a foul and send Denver to the line when we were up by 3 points with 6 seconds left, well executed. The Lakers held on for the win... The Lakers shot 41 percent (37-90), the Nuggets 49 percent (36-74). That's 16 more attempts for the Lakers. Where did it come from? They won the offensive glass 17-7. Denver got to the line 35 times, the Lakers just 24...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Bad start to the Lakers with the 10-2 Denver run. Strong finish by L.A. with the 10-3 and 6-0 runs in the final minutes of fourth.

[Ray_Gonzoles]

This was a great 'gut check' win for the Lakers. They held up against the opening deficit when it seemed they could not hit a shot, to come back and lead by the half.

Great steal by Ariza at the end to seal the game.

As always, thanks for the recaps DB!

9 down, 7 to go!

1st!
_________________
"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[TheLakerFeeling]

2nd!

Good win, thanks DB!

[fsc401]

Thanks

[mhan00]

i can't imagine that 'melo will stay this hot the rest of the series. he's been shooting the ball well, but some of those shots, man.

[Thedo]

Thanks, DB!

Probably the most exciting game of the playoffs for the Lakers considering it came down to the final seconds.

I'm proud of the way we responded and came back from a deficit to win.

Awesome play by Ariza to save the game.

Kobe was spectacular and a great leader.

Fisher hit some clutch shots.

...for some reason, it appeared as an away game the way some of the calls were going.

Hopefully, we blow them out next game.

We'll need Pau and Bynum to dominate to run the offense more efficiently. I wanna see them unleash!

[Addicus]

Thanks DB. I think that Kleiza hit on Brown was a flagrant. He ran through Shannon and didn't play the ball on a breakaway. It just seemed as if the refs didn't want to call anything for the Lakers at times unless your name was Kobe (in the fourth). Great win and a very riveting game.
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Stop crying and start doing.

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[DancingBarry]

All I can say is that I hope we get that kind of love on the road in Denver.

[dot3]

Thanks DB.

We need to get Pau some more touches. It just seemed like no one was looking for him. We have too much size for them and should use it.

Then again, we also have too much Kobe

[calistrtballr]

Defensively, I wanna see how Odom does guarding Melo.

[IPK]

[ReaListik]

Thanks DB.

I can't emphasize enough how important it's going to be to get Gasol more involved offensively. One of the greatest things about Kobe is that he's the best one on one player in the game, and having a low-post presence that can command double-teams can give Kobe that luxury to play one-on-one at times. I was shocked that they didn't look for Pau early on, but I hope they establish him in the post early and often in game 2...because we need him and Kobe to have great games within the team concept from here on out.

I was so glad we pulled this out, and it's been a long time since I've seen this team gut it out like that. I was very happy about that.
_________________
"We are the goodest." - Shaq ESPN interview

[AllorNothing]

Vlade and Luke was the Melo stopper last year.

[8750]

thanks, DB
what's really good is that we won their game... from the beginning, denver had a plan and a rhythm, we didn't... it's true that we need to feed our big men, but it's also true that they are too static... sometimes it would be not so bad playing some p&r... i always have big doubts about gasol and bynum together, not only because we become very slow and predictable offensively but also because our defensive transitions are very weak...
kobe played a terrific defensive game!

[sonimala]

It seemed Denver couldn't miss in the first quarter. Good on the Lakers for staying close and then Kobe finishing it for LA. Just as Melo hopefully couldn't sustain that performance for the whole series, Pau should do better as the series go on. The boys played a lot under intense pressure from the Nuggets as well as from some calls.

The Houston series has got a lot to do with the Lakers win today, I reckon!
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Miami police will not arrest Dirk for stealing LeBron's ring. The victim never witnessed the crime since he left 12 mins before the theft. As tweeted by: The Bill Walton Trip

[macwebb]

[Laker7]

Great write up DB. I just got done ready emplay's article and the quote from Phil "They outplayed us and we won the game." This Nuggets team right now is no joke. They are playing thier butt's off and are not afraid to be physical. We have to continue to be agressive and get physical back with them.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[divncom]

[Sage_10]

big W. Thanks DB!
_________________
"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

That was a rather epic tale of redemption for both Fish and Lamar.

The game was unnecessarily close, and it was difficult to pinpoint whether the problem was mental or physical fatigue.

The key for the next game is playing better defense (again), and getting the front court involved more on the offense. Bynum's timing is still awful, and perhaps his defensive recognition as well as he's rotating way too slowly. Yet unlike Pau, he at least was fighting for position in the low post. It was discouraging to see Pau simply set screens 25 feet from the basket, and then drift to the safety of the high post. He's someone who needs touches in the low post EARLY in the game, as it seems he's more willing to fight in the low post once he takes a few shots and lands a few blows. I will even go so far as to say that his missed free throws may have been a result of Pau being in a rhythm.

[markjay]

Another magnificent write up. Thanks, DB.

As you say, the Lakers are chucking up way too many early long shots. If they work it into the post, they'll still have those same outside shots later on in the possession if need be, and probably be more open at that and with their bigs in better rebounding position. When they chuck it up early, it just kills the possession and seldom results in an offensive rebound.

I thought one key turning point in the game was about half way through the fourth quarter when Denver comes down with a 7 point lead and misses a wide open 3, then the Lakers come down and Kobe completes an "and 1" for 3. Within just a few seconds, the lead could have been 10 but instead was brought down to 4. Whew!

All in all, an incredible effort (especially fourth quarter by Kobe). I look forward to seeing what adjustments the team makes for game 2.

[Dr. Laker]

[knhellesky]

very nice. thanks

[limchrc]

Glad we got the win. Thanks for the recap.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

with the way the refs were calling it, we should have lost. kobe bean bryant wouldnt let us.
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu