| 21 May 2009
Denver Nuggets 106, Los Angeles Lakers 103
It may be strange to read this when the game was very close and came down to the wire, but the Lakers lost this game at the end of the second quarter. The Lakers were dominating the first two quarters and took a 53-40 lead with 2:40 left in the second and were on their way to a dominant win at home. They must have bought in that the game was over, but the Nuggets and Linas Kleiza sure didn't.
Denver went on a scoring binge to close out the half on the back of the two-headed monster that I shall call Kleizups. It started with a dunk by Kenyon Martin, and then Chauncey Billups and Linas Kleiza (yes, you read that correctly) went on their own personal 12-2 run to close out the half. It was capped by Billups veteranization of Kobe Bryant throwing the ball off his back and scoring a layup on the inbound play. From that point forward, any confidence that the Lakers had crushed was completely taken back by the Nuggets. It was a whole new ball game (especially for Billups).
Billups finally looked like the guy that led the Nuggets in the first two rounds. He was aggressive on offense and repeatedly drove into the lane getting the rim and the line at will. He finished with 27 point (17 in the second half) and had 16 free throw attempts. The lane was Billups' to take because the Lakers had to respect Kleiza's ability to hit from deep. Kleiza ended up 4-7 from three and added 8 rebounds to go along with 16 points in just 22 minutes. Carmelo Anthony added his fifth straight 30+ point performance (34 points with 20 in the second half).
The stars on both sides played each other to a standstill, but the Nuggets shot better from the free throw line tonight, got a better contribution from their bench and kept up in the rebounding department. They survived a flurry of game-tying shots from Kobe Bryant at the end of the game (who finished with 32 points) and a big night from Trevor Ariza (20 points on 7 shots and 4 steals), and they got a few lucky/fortuitous bounces to go their way. The go-ahead bucket for example was a terrible decision by Billups in the lane that somehow ended up in the hands of Nene who subsequently made a play for Martin all while 4 Lakers were in the lane. Sometimes that's what a team needs to win a close game.
Why the Nuggets Won This Game
The Nuggets won this game because they made they adjustments that cost them game one. They were aggresively attacking the lane and getting to the foul line, but they were converting on their freebies this time around. Players like Anthony, Nene and Kleiza boxed out, crashed the boards and chased down long rebounds. The defense on Gasol, Bynum, and Odom was once again stellar. J.R. Smith and Chris Andersen were no shows on offense, but they didn't let it affect their defense closing out on Kobe and Fisher and finding a way to change shots. George Karl has to be happy with his team keeping their focus and making the necessary adjustments after a rough start.
Why the Lakers Lost This Game
The Lakers lost this game because they took their foot off the gas and allowed Billups to get his groove back. They did a masterful job on him in game one and kept it up through the first fifteen minutes of game two, but they just couldn't keep it up and Billups ended up burning them. This game had to open Phil Jackson's eyes that the Lakers can't even have a two to three minute lull against the Nuggets otherwise Billups and Anthony have the fire power to knock them off.
Heading into Game 3
With the Nuggets achieving their goal of taking one out of two from the Lakers in Staples, they are now sitting pretty with one of the best home court advantages in the league and a lot of confidence heading into game three. Chauncey and Melo seem to thrive at the Pepsi Center, and the crowd should be into this game from the jump. Kobe and Phil are going to have the supporting cast prepared for anything heading into Denver, and the Lakers will need the effective Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol to show up and hope for anything from Derek Fisher.
Prediction: Denver will carry their confidence to a game three win
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