The Nuggets were front-running all night in LA. They were the team that got off to an early lead, and there the team that lead nearly the whole way. The Lakers shot only 41% for the whole game, and LA never shoots that poorly, unless they're being defended.
The game was lost for the Nuggets at the free-throw line where they went 23 of 35. If they went 26 of 35 all other things being equal we would have had a different outcome.
The Nuggets are a more physical team that Houston, but Denver's 2nd unit had trouble scoring and matching up with the Lakers 2nd team. Karl will have to make some adjustment match-ups.
Kobe guarding Melo is a waste, and unless they're careful, Kobe will end up picking up a lot of fouls trying to defend him. If he was effective it would be one thing, but Kobe can't stop him at all, and he didn't slow him down one bit. When he went down into the low post he dunked at will.
Yes, the Lakers could have played with more intensity, which is why they are not a team I'm picking to win it all. If being behind at home isn't enough to motivate them, they aren't good enough. Denver has more players that can score, or at least it appeared that way to me. It is important to note, however, that it was those three's by Farmar and Ariza that got the Lakers back into it.
Let me make this very clear: The Lakers hit a couple of three's at the end to get back in to it, and they were LUCKY they made them, and even more fortunate that Denver missed their free throws and Chauncey wasn't hitting his shots. (5-13) The evidence of the refs interference is clear when you look at the play by play of the last few minutes and see where they took possession of the ball away from the Nuggets twice.
Also Kobe got bailed out going to the line a couple of times and also didn't get called for all his clutching and grabbing at Melo. Considering he started out the game with a technical, it's amazing he gets all those calls.
Really though, Denver looks like they have more talent to me. The Lakers have two great players and a bunch of role players. Bynum isn't as good as Nene.
Gasol had a bad game, but I don't know if that's Denver or just a bad night for him. For the Lakers to win when he only puts up 13 is amazing. Why he didn't shoot more is the big question. They can't continue to rely on Ariza and Farmar, can they?
So much to comment on here. Laker lack of intensity drives me nuts, their ability to overcome that lack of intensity on a consistent however proves their talent level is superior to Denver's. The game was affected by the free throw line, but not the way you paint it. Denver was getting bailed out constantly with trips to the stripe, had that not happened, LA cruises in this game. An 11 trip disparity in Denver's favor somehow translates to Kobe getting bailed out how? Denver's "physical" but Kobe is "clutching and grabbing". Kobe guarded their 2 best players and "picked up a lot of fouls"? He finished with 3 total.
I heartily disagree that Nene is better than Bynum. He is more experienced and his post season numbers so far are better, but it is far too early to make that call, especially when his regular season numbers are virtually identical.
How did Gasol have a bad night? He only scored 13 points but no one came close to him on the boards including 6 on the offensive glass that turned into 8 points, plus 2 blocks and he didn't foul out. Not a great night but by no means a bad one, he only took 9 shots, and 5, sometimes that is the way it goes but it's a night not a few bigs wouldn't mind having
Denver has 2 great players and a bunch of role players, AS DO MOST VERY GOOD TEAMS. What's the point? If they are more talented how did their bench struggle so badly scoring against our scrub role players? Why did Karl find it necessary to keep his starters in if they are so talented and deep?
Why can we not rely on Ariza and Farmar? Or Brown for that matter? Have they not proven that we can? How are those 3 pointers "LUCKY" when they do it on a consistent basis?
The whole Lakers were lucky to pull that one out gets really old. Rather than credit them for their ability to fight through a poor shooting night, keep it close, and pull it out in the end, why do people feel the need to call them lucky or say the refs bailed them out, especially when the refs CLEARLY gave the Nuggets the edge at the stripe, is that just a knee jerk reaction or what? Lakers win so the refs must have helped them?
I give Denver full credit for their game last night, they played a near perfect game, good enough to win and it would have been enough against any other team, but LA IS THE BEST TEAM IN THE WC and whether that is my moerism for them or not, oh well, LA took Denver's best shot last night and beat anyway, even with a sub-par effort from our "talentless" role players.
