I’m not normally one to jump ahead of myself and call a series over after only three games, but stick a fork in Denver, this team is done.
There was no sense of urgency from Denver. It seemed to be just an ordinary game from Denver’s aspect that is. The Lakers played some great defense on Carmelo and AI. Throughout the game Denver’s players continued to miss easy shots around the basket. For a quarter and a half, Denver kept the game close.
But the start of the third quarter was different. Denver came out and hit a few shots but the Lakers broke the game open in the third quarter. Kobe came out aggressive, hitting multiple shots from the outside. Derek Fisher joined in with a couple of threes, scoring 11 points to basically put an end to the Nuggets season.
Can someone please let Carmelo Anthony know that his team is in the playoffs? Watching him wallow in self pity is, well, pitiful. Again, he has all the talent in the world but isn’t equipped mentally to take over a game offensively or defensively. Would someone let me know who is playing center for the Nuggets because Pau seemed to have his way in the middle? I guess if you ask the Nuggets what happened and they may say that they were out played, or maybe they would say that it was five against eights (JR Smith’s excuse from last game), or maybe they will fess up and say you know what, we came out and laid and egg, we didn’t get it done on defense and we missed too many easy baskets.
Early on I think the Nuggets wanted to implement a little gorilla ball by fouling hard. Look for Eduardo Najera to be a assessed a Flagrant 2 instead of the bogus Flagrant 1 for elbowing Sasha Vujacic in the second quarter. What does that mean you ask? Well, basically he may/should be suspended for the game on Monday. But Najera’s hard foul to the throat didn’t faze Sasha as he shot two free throws as his consolation prize. If only the rest of the Lakers could hit their free throws as easily as Sasha. The Lakers struggled from the free throw line for most of the game. From Kobe, to Lamar, to Derek, to Pau, it seemed to be contagious, going 20 for 33 from the charity stripe.
The Lakers earned this victory not because they were hitting from the three-point line because they were only 8 for 23 from behind the arc but because they were driving to the basket, hitting their mid-range jumpers and playing outstanding defense.
Saying the Nuggets have an uphill battle is an understatement. Denver should be embarrassed and ashamed of the way they have performed in this series, especially with their mental lapses, drawing bonehead technical and flagrant fouls. It’s like they are trying to draw the attention away from their lack luster play. I just want them to know, it’s not working.
Miscellaneous Game Notes: Luke Walton again had a solid game, scoring 15 points. Marcus Camby went scoreless in the game. Ronny Turiaf came in towards the end of the game. Both the Lakers and Nuggets had five players in double digits.
