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Previous Lakers - Nuggets Running Diary/Postgame
Lakers - Nuggets Running Diary 11-01-2008
Postgame: Lakers 104, Nuggets 97
Lakers - Nuggets Running Diary 11-21-2008
Lakers 104, Nuggets 90: Postgame
Lakers - Nuggets Running Diary 2-27-2009
Lakers 79, Nuggets 90: Postgame
Inactives
Lakers: D.J. Mbenga*, Sun Yue
Nuggets: Lindsey Hunter, Kenyon Martin
*Phil Jackson opted to keep Mbenga, instead of Adam Morrison, in street clothes, obviously feeling confident that the Bynum-Gasol-Odom-Powell foursome can handle paint.
Starters
Lakers: Fisher, Bryant, Ariza, Gasol and Bynum*
Nuggets: Chauncey Billups, Dahntay Jones, Carmelo Anthony, Johan Petro, Nene
*If Bynum does indeed start, it’ll be his first game since Jan. 31st against Memphis. His minutes are expected to be limited.
‘Melo’s Struggles Vs. L.A.
The first time these teams met, just four games into the season for L.A., Carmelo Anthony was terrible, making just one of his first 11 shots before hitting his final four after the game was decided. Anthony was just as bad the second time these teams met in late November, hitting just 5-of-19 shots for 10 points without a free throw attempt. Then in Denver’s first win in a while over L.A., Anthony still struggled, making just 4-of-17 shots (23.5 percent). In total, that’s 14-for-51 (27.5 percent). It’s hard to imagine Anthony struggling that mightily for a fourth straight Laker game.
First Quarter
A note on Denver: I’ve noticed that Lakers fans don’t have a ton of respect for the Nuggets, and can’t blame them after L.A. demolished them in last year’s playoffs and has generally dominated the team from snow-capped Colorado of late. However, this bunch of Nuggs is a different squad; they figured out how to play defense, are run by one of the game’s best in Chauncey Billups, have been getting great interior play from Nene and have the benefit of 50 points per game off the bench in the last five, keyed by J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza.
12:00 So, the fans were REAL excited to hear Bynum’s name announced with the starters. I was just happy to see him land solidly on his knee after a big back bump from Josh Powell. The fans at STAPLES were also privy to a slick video welcoming back Bynum prepared by Lakers video maestro Paul Nankivell that we’ll try to post on the site later on.
11:50 Well, there’s the defensive presence - Bynum came over to contest a little floater from Johan Petro, which missed badly.
9:29 Gasol scored his second hoop in about 30 seconds to counter a Billups’ triple that had put Denver up 7-2. Fans may have been surprised moments later to see Shannon Brown check in off the bench instead of Jordan Farmar when Fisher picked up his second foul, but this is more of a defensive matchup move than anything (Phil Jackson clearly likes the larger Brown to defend Billups).
8:44 Brown was quickly productive in drawing a foul on his three-point attempt, and made 2-of-3 free throws to make it 7-6 Nuggets.
7:27 Be ready for some gratuitous Bynum posts as long as he’s in … This one’s for his third rebound, which came a possession after he changed a Nene shot. The best way to judge Bynum’s presence through four minutes was that Denver hadn’t taken one layup with the big center eating up paint. Meanwhile, Kobe’s first FGA was a made triple that gave L.A. a 13-11 lead.
5:29 Bynum followed Kobe’s example by attempting his first field goal, but came up well short. No matter - Gasol was there to clean up. Subsequently, Nene became the first Nugget to get into the lane, and the Lakers called a timeout, out of which we will clearly see Lamar Odom. Here’s the team stat to which you should pay attention from Bynum’s six minutes and change: L.A. outscored Denver 10-4 in the paint. Individually, he was 0-for-2 from the field withi four boards and an assist.
5:00 Does Odom mind coming off the bench? Apparently not: First came a swish from three, then a monster swat of Nene and next two free throws to make it 20-17 Lakers. He’s just trying to win a championship.
1:57 Denver had to focus some low post attention on Bynum, and look what Gasol did in 10 minutes: 12 points and seven boards, four offensive. After two free throws, he’d add a layup from Odom’s nice lofted pass that put L.A. up 30-21.
0:29.2 L.A. got a taste of how explosive Denver’s bench is when Kleiza converted a fastbreak layup and ‘Melo got loose on Smith’s assist, though perhaps more interesting was the aggressive near-three-point-line double team of Bryant. As the Nuggs blitzed Kobe, he drew a body bump foul and made 1-of-2 free throws to send L.A. into the second up 33-25.
Second Quarter
L.A. shot just 36 percent in the quarter, which makes 33 points hard to understand … until you realize that the Lakers grabbed seven offensive boards, made 13-of-15 free throws and turned it over just once. What stands out visually starting the second is that L.A.’s “second unit” doesn’t really look like one: Farmar, Vujacic, Walton, Odom and Bynum. What team wouldn’t be happy to rock that group?
9:28 Running that same ‘ol alley-oop inbounds pass, Walton tossed to Bynum, but ‘Drew was still working out some rust, catching the ball and eventually traveling. Rust, however, is why it’s good that he’s going today instead of waiting until Sunday, as had been reported earlier this week.
8:02 Bynum continued to look a step slow as he fouled Anderson, but was better on the next chance as he bodied up Nene and forced a pass. ‘Drew then caught the ball in the lane and drew a foul on Anderson before making 1-of-2 free throws that made it 38-31 Lakers.
6:13 The evening’s biggest ovation since Bynum’s intro came when the New Jersey native sunk a baby hook in the lane, which fans were starting to get used to in January when he was scoring at will.
5:50 Gotta love this: “Still D.R.E.” ringing out on the speakers as the Lakers showed the good Dr. from his courtside seat. That’s always fun. Meanwhile, Gasol, Bryant, Fisher and Ariza joined Odom on the floor, putting Bynum’s minutes at 12:41.
2:33 Bryant’s baseline jumper was a pretty answer to a Smith triple, but Smith fired right back a minute later to cut the Lakers’ lead down to three at 54-51. That put the bench points even at 18, and the major difference in the starters was that ‘Melo actually played well in making 6-of-9 shots (remember, he was at 27 percent in the first three games.
1:35 Coming back on TNT from the timeout, the cable station showed some of the stars in the building, pausing on Dr. Dre at the end. Marv Albert promptly proved why he’s the best (alongside Kevin Harlan, of course) with this comment to Reggie Miller: ” “As you know Reggie, he is not a medical Dr.” Genius.
0:06.9 Back on the floor, Anthony and Bryant exchanged free throws, before Smith made a spectacular play in pulling up at the buzzer for a 28-foot three pointer. With that, Denver completely erased what had been an 11-point Lakers lead. Nonetheless, L.A. certainly got off on the right foot in terms of working Bynum back into the rotation without compromising the competitiveness of the game.
Third Quarter
11:33 Bynum opened the third by sticking his own miss back in with his left hand, and at the other end was called for a foul when he stood still with his hands in the air. Innocent.
10:08 Two negative plays in a row from Ariza occurred as the forgotten member of L.A.’s starting unit missed a wide open triple, then bit on ‘Melo’s pump fake to put him at the line, allowing the Nuggs to take their first lead since the first quarter. Ariza then missed another triple, when he was again left wide open.
9:10 Still looking a bit tentative in the paint, Bynum nonetheless managed to convert after a nice pass from Pau, and Ariza made a good defensive play to retain possession for the Lakers. If he’s missing shots, at least he’s contributing at the other end, and Bryant used the opportunity to drain a triple and quietly climb to 20 points on an efficient 6-of-10 plus 6-of-7 foul shots.
7:11 Here’s what having two skilled seven footers does for you: Bryant missed a tough shot while looking for a foul, and Gasol was right there for the tip. He missed, but right behind him was Bynum, who finished with a slam and the foul to get to 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, plus six boards.
6:29 There’s Bynum, again, next to the hoop. Nene’s big and strong, but the Brazilian (whose last name is Hilario) simply isn’t long enough for ‘Drew, who laid in with his right hand for his ninth point in the quarter’s first six minutes. Bynum then went to the bench, resulting in this lineup: Brown, Bryant, Walton, Odom and Gasol. So you add two facilitators and an energy guy to two All-Stars, and have to like it.
4:42 Ty Nowell said that he really liked that lineup when it checked in, and the players didn’t disappoint. Fatman Sr. swished a triple right after checking in, showing a good deal of pizazz; Bryant came back with a pump-fake deuce at the other end, and Brown then came up with a long rebound before finding Gasol ahead of the pack for a dunk. Suddenly, L.A. was up 78-69, and the defensive energy was terrific.
3:38 Two more Bryant free throws capped a 12-0 run. The Lakers looked very, very tough in that stretch, with the ability to hurt their opponent in myriad ways.
0:34.9 Jackson rewarded Brown’s (that’s Fatman Sr., in case you missed it) strong play by leaving him in the game, and he responded with a steal that led to Gasol’s putback of Odom’s missed layup. Odom looked to be fouled on the play, but really gets no love from the refs.
Two Smith free throws allowed Denver to creep within seven points, five off the 12-point lead of three minutes earlier, heading into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter
10:56 Vujacic pulled out the Reggie Miller special, kicking his leg out to draw a foul on a three-point attempt, and he dropped all three freebies. Just as I was going to make note of how Odom wasn’t looking for his shot when Walton made an extra pass to get him a layup. That’s one reason guys love playing with Luke.
9:51 “That’s just a fun option to have,” said Ty, as Gasol’s fourth foul didn’t feel so bad with Bynum rising off the bench. He responded immediately, catching deep in the paint (Nene for some reason kept letting him catch the ball deep, as Mike Fratello pointed out on TNT) and scoring easily to put L.A. up 95-85.
8:18 In fairness, let’s point out three plays on the other side of the Bynum spectrum: He was slow getting back, clearly dragging according to Ty (who was watching as I typed) and allowing Nene to get too deep for a bucket; he forced a shot on the other end that missed badly; and he was slow reacting to Nene’s drive, another layup. That 4-0 run brought Denver within six. Bynum, by the way, had already played 20 minutes at that point, which was somewhat of a (welcome) surprise.
7:29 OK, and back to the positive: Bynum pulled in a long offensive rebound, went right up and drained a 16-footer to get to 16 points. Of course, he committed his fifth foul at the other end, but if that’s it for his night, the Lakers have to be quite pleased.
5:04 “Ohhhh what a shot … He bannnnked it in, and it leads to a Deeennnver timmmeee outt!” Marv was talking about Kobe, who made an extremely difficult leaner off glass just a possession after dropping a super tough driving layup. That’s why he’s the MVP, and the Lakers were happy to take a 105-91 lead as a result.
Meanwhile, we should mention Gasol’s ridiculous line: 25 points and 19 rebounds, including 11 offensive glass cleans. The 19 is a season high for Pau, who had 18 twice (Jan. 11 @ Miami and Jan. 7 @ Golden State).
2:50 Fish, who’d missed his first three FGAs, finally hit from the baseline, then laid in on the fast break to put L.A. up 111-96.
0:25.5 Odom showed another reason why his teammates love him in passing up a wide open three to get freshly-checked-in Josh Powell an open jumper, which he swished. Those would be the final points in L.A.’s convincing 116-102 victory over a team that had won eight straight and 13-of-14 games. Not bad.
No sleep for the weary, of course, as the Lakers will now head straight to the airport for a flight to Portland.
Bryant one point away from passing Charles Barkley on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
“I’ll get him tomorrow.”
