LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 1/21 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Rocky Mountain High... If you hadn't seen some of the games the Nuggets have played recently, you might think they just mailed this one in. The Lakers dulled the sharp edges of the Denver attack on their way to the 107-97 road win.

The Nuggets struggled to get their transition game going. Tough to do when the Lakers were scoring at a high clip and getting second-chance possessions, as well. The Lakers out-rebounded the Nuggets by 20 on their way to one of the rare road wins so far this season over a plus .500 opponent.

"They're trees down there," Carmelo Anthony said. "And they bring Lamar, another 7-footer, off the bench, and he does the same thing: attack the offensive glass, putbacks."

The Lakers won just a single quarter in this game. That's all they needed. They seemingly took the life from the Nuggets by winning the third 33-20 behind an aggressive Kobe-centered attack.

That wasn't the way the rest of the game went. Kobe was actually out-scored by Ron Artest tonight (and in efficient fashion). Pau added 19, Lamar added 18, Drew chipped in with 17.

"Every one of their big guys had a big game," Nuggets coach George Karl lamented afterward.

The Lakers got what they wanted all game. Need some Kobe scores and passes? Done. Need post scores from your bigs? Done. Second chances? Done. Meanwhile, Melo struggled with Artest all over him, Nene was dominated by Bynum, and the Nuggets faded into the night.


Kobe -- -- Kobe cruised through the first half, setting up teammates (and sometimes cruising on defense against Afflalo, as well). In the third, the Mamba struck. He stepped up the aggression and dropped 14 points and 4 assists. The Lakers began to pull away in the process. That was one of those third quarters we haven't seen enough of where the Lakers crush a team. "It's important for me to keep my guys involved and build their confidence," Kobe said. "I know I can score at any moment or get looks at any moment. The third quarter I was able to do that." The Stats: He scored 18 points on 8-15 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He sagged off his man and gave up a three. He threw an outlet away. He missed a wing jumper off the inbounds. He sagged off Afflalo again for no reason giving up a three. He kicked out to Fish for a corner three. He lost his man on a step-through and missed the easy one. He made a turnaround from the midpost. He attacked in transition, was slapped, but still scored a layup. He had 4 points on 2-4 shooting and 2 assists. Afflalo had 16 points. Second Half: He drained a wing jumper on the first possession of the half. He busted out on a steal by Ron and dunked with both hands ahead of the pack. He lost Afflalo again and gave up a corner three a step late. He settled for a sideline three on the other end when the offense stalled and missed. He backed Afflalo down and banked easily (more please). He faked a jumper off a screen and hit Lamar sealing his man weakside for a layup. He probed baseline and hit the tough fallaway. He spun away from Afflalo and rattled in the tough angle jumper. Super flat attempt from three (looked like the injured fingers losing grip for sure on that one), barely hit rim, but Kobe dove to tap the board back to Fisher. He attacked off the three line on that play and hit Lamar for the layup. He pumped Smith twice into the air to draw FTs, he made both. Nice pressure D on a pass to Melo to force a turnover. He sank a tough, off-balance wing jumper on iso. Way off on a pull-up jumper on iso with the shotclock low next time down. He hit Pau on a lob out of a timeout. He missed a bank over Smith in the post. Kobe had 14 points on 6-10 shooting and 4 assists in the third. He missed a 20-footer with the shotclock low. He missed a tech FT. He attacked and kicked to Ron for a three.

Gasol -- -- He was active throughout the game. Going up against Kenyon vs. Nene makes a difference (especially on the defensive end where Pau isn't overpowered). Offensively, he's good for 18-19 points a night, but Pau also has to bring the effort, which he did tonight. He killed the Nuggets on the offensive glass again (he pulled down 20 total boards last time they met). The Lakers dominated the offensive boards 15-6. Love seeing that garbage work from him away from the ball. That kills teams. When our two bigs are imposing their size with that type of hustle, they make it very tough to beat the Lakers. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 8-14 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with with 13 boards (6 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a wing jumper over Kenyon. He was stripped next time down. He didn't protect an offensive board and had it stripped away. He pushed out the break and no-looked to Artest for a layup (froze the D on that pass). He shot right over Martin in the paint for an easy hoop. He hit Ron with an interior feed for a layup. He posted up Ely and drew FTs, he made one. He sank an elbow jumper. He tipped in a missed jumper fighting in a crowd. He threw a bounce pass into a crowd, turnover. He missed an elbow jumper. Bad challenge on Billups, giving a shove and not really going after the shot (gave up an And-1). He drew a double when Lamar's man left him and he hit LO for a layup. He cleaned up a Lamar miss off the two-man game. He missed a 21-footer with the shotclock low. He had 9 points on 4-8 shooting and 9 boards. Second Half: Kobe hit him on the backdoor lob out of a timeout for a score (rare we see that). Soft touch off the glass on a one-hander in the lane. Great battle getting to a missed three by Shannon and putting it back in at the buzzer. He had 6 points all in the last couple minutes on 3-3 shooting in the third. Wow, Blake set him up for a point-blank layup and it slipped right out of his hands. He missed a layup on a drive across the lane. He missed a long jumper. He iso'd, palmed the ball in his right as he faced up, he attacked left, spun to the middle of the lane and scored with his left. He was hacked when Kobe flipped a pass to him off a cut, Pau made both FTs.

Bynum -- -- Late in the game, he overpowered Nene once again and was fouled to the floor, looked like with an extra shove, too. Nene stood over him. Bynum got up and went toe to toe with him. Nene simply can't handle him and Bynum (and the Lakers made sure they pressed the advantage). This was especially key when both Kobe and Pau were resting early in the fourth. Those are key minutes and the offense was running through him. Last time we met, Nene had 18 points and took it to our smaller Pau/Lamar duo. Asked if he was the difference, Drew said he wasn't (what else is he going to say?). Clearly, though, if you saw the last game against the Nuggets versus this one, he was the difference. Nene was a non-factor. Some nice passing from Drew in this game, as well. He had a triple-wrapped taped-up sleeve on his right arm after the injury last game. Aside from possibly affecting his touch early on it, it didn't seem to impact his game much. (Leon Wood of "Are you serious?" infamy was the ref tonight. No antics from either him or Drew.) The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-11 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 2 blocks and 4 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He missed a layup off the bounce pass from Kobe. He choked a point-blank putback layup next time down. He posted up Martin in transition and drew FTs, he made just one. He backed down Martin and missed another one-footer, uggh. He missed a 7-footer straight away. Nice challenge on Melo to get a miss at the rim. He forced Nene into a miss in the post. He slammed back in a missed Shannon jumper. Nice challenge on Smith at the rim to force a brick. He overpowered Nene and scored a layup on the dropstep. He swatted Melo easily on help D. He had 5 points on 2-6 shooting. Second Half: He backed Nene right under the hoop and scored the easy layup. He scored a layup off the two-man game with Kobe (was hit with no call). He swiped an offensive board from behind Kenyon and scored the layup. He picked up his fourth foul trying to show on a screen 40 feet from the hoop and had to sit midway through the third quarter. He sucked defenders in around him, kicked to Luke, who then hit Lamar for the dunk. He posted up and hit Lamar curling for a layup out of a timeout. He couldn't back down his man, slipped with his footing it seemed, so Drew swished a turnaround jumper the other way. He bullied Nene all the way under the hoop and scored a layup. He was fouled and shoved to the floor by Nene on a power up, he got up and they stared at each other, Bynum made both FTs. Nene tried to go at Drew on the other end, double-dribbled when Drew was tight on him and Bynum blocked his shot for good measure.

Artest -- -- He outplayed Melo, who got his 23 points on 24 shots (several of those scores against others). Funny how Carmelo was given no turnovers in the game. Ron swiped the ball from him at least twice. Ron played limited minutes in this game because of foul trouble. However, most of those fouls came on help D under the hoop. He probably should have let a couple of those scores go and save his fouls for Melo. In any event, when he was out there, Ron was sticking it to the Nuggets on the other end. He was hitting threes, midrange jumpers and scoring layups. Last time he faced the Nuggets, he scored 18 points (that was in 42 minutes). His 19 points were a season high. Must be the air. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 8-12 shooting (2-3 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 2 offensive boards, 2 blocks and 5 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He posted up Melo and scored an And-1 layup on him for the Lakers first score, he missed the FT. He scored a layup on the break with Pau. He sealed Melo, took the pass from Pau and scored the easy layup. He missed an open wing three. He sank an open sideline three shortly later. He got caught on a swing-through on Melo for his second foul (first one was on a battle on the offensive glass...has to watch those ones). He had 9 points on 4-5 shooting in 10 minutes. Second Half: He let a defender fly by, moved in a couple dribbles and sank the short jumper from the wing. His layup was goaltended off the glass with no call (seemed obvious), he got it back when Pau grabbed it and fed him and he drew FTs, Ron made one. He missed a sideline three. Great iso D on Melo, stripping him on a drive to ignite a breakaway dunk for Kobe. Melo tried to go back at him on the next possession in the post and didn't hit rim. He tried to take a foul on Smith on help D, giving up an And-1 (just let that go, Ron). His pass or shot was blocked, he stayed with it and hit the baseline fade. He wrapped up Nene in the post right after that after just 30 seconds of action (can't take those fouls, Ron). Back in and he poked the ball from Melo on a drive to get a stop (Melo picked up a tech, he did get fouled, but getting a little flustered). He scored a layup on the other end off the shovel pass from Fish. He crashed the glass and pulled out an offensive board to reset the clock, then did it again on the next miss (killer offensive set, any remaining fight in the Nuggets was taken from them there). He missed a step-back jumper. He posted up and hit a cutting Kobe, who sent it to Pau who was hacked. He drained a three on a kickout from Kobe.

Fisher -- -- We saw a rare Fish/Blake combo on the floor down the stretch. Not sure I like that unit with Blake not cutting off ball much (and Fisher never), but they held their own. Quiet game from Fish, but he did a good job moving the ball. Billups frustrated him with some of the crazy whistles he draws. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed a 16-footer straight away. He sank a corner three on the Kobe kickout. Second Half: He drew a moving screen call on Kenyon. He missed a sideline three. He missed a corner three. He attacked and shoveled a pass to Ron for a layup.

Lamar -- -- The Lakers got 19, 18 and 17 points from their three impact bigmen. The scoring across the board for the Lakers was distributed nicely and fairly well balanced aside from Kobe's 14-point third quarter flurry. When you can bring 18-10 off your bench and not skip a beat when you get one of your starters in foul trouble, that should win you games. Lamar hit a couple shots from the perimeter, but had a lot of easy ones tonight by getting into position for others to set him up. Phil even worked one of those plays out of a timeout. Some bonehead plays in the first half when he had 3 turnovers and got to hear it from his coaches, but he cleaned it up in the second half and kept his aggressiveness at the same time. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 9-14 shooting to go with 10 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper just after entering the game. He choked a layup cutting off Pau. He hit Luke under the hoop for a layup. He found Pau at the elbow for a score. He traveled getting off balance on a drive. He swished a pull-up 17-footer in early offense. He scored a layup when Blake found him over the top of the D. He tipped in a missed jumper behind Billups. His man left him to double the post as Lamar cut, Pau fed him and LO scored the uncontested layup. Horrible, horrible post entry bounce pass, not even close, layup the other way (Phil called a timeout and got on him). He missed a layup on the two-man sequence with Pau, but Pau cleaned it up. He had 8 points on 4-7 shooting and 8 boards, but 3 turnovers. Second Half: He sealed Melo and took the jump pass from Kobe for a layup. He scored a layup on a drive and dish from Kobe. He dunked off the faked three by Luke. He curled weak to strong off a screen by Blake toward the Bynum post and Drew hit him for a layup. He posted up his man, drop-stepped with ease and scored the one-hander (he stared at the ref for the no call). He took contact on a baseline jumper and missed (he wanted the foul, kind of iffy on that one). He short-armed a shot on the right block.

Blake -- -- Offensively, again he showed more of that active threat that we saw earlier in the year. His recent slump was a result of being passive and trying to fit in. Perhaps, he's starting to find his way again. And, hopefully, he will continue to grow and bring more his game to the table. Phil again gave him minutes to close the game. Most of Blake's misses tonight were up against the clock trying to beat the buzzer or shotclock. Good effort on the offensive glass. On D, the Lakers defensive shading doesn't work well when you've got speedy guards and you give up straight-line penetration. Just not enough time for the bigmen to react unless you pressure your man some. Blake got caught on a couple of those against the quick Ty Lawson tonight. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 3 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He gave up a layup to Lawson, crowding him too much on the perimeter. He missed a halfcourt heave at the buzzer. He drained a wing three on a skip pass from Luke. He missed a tough heave from three after just beating the shotclock buzzer. Great recognition spotting Lamar's man sleeping, Blake threw a pass over the defender to LO for the layup. He probed baseline aggressively and hit a turnaround jumper. He grabbed a missed jumper but couldn't get the tough baseline follow jumper to go at the end of the half. He had 5 points on 2-5 shooting (all three misses were on shotclock beater type of shots). Second Half: He missed a three on a kickout, had to rush it a bit. Great screen out of a timeout on a set play to free up Lamar for a score (like seeing our guards set those). He tapped an offensive board back out when Shannon just beat the shotclock with a miss.

Brown -- -- A bit of a dud from Shannon tonight offensively. Perhaps he's been a little preoccupied with a wedding to Monica. He had the good fortune tonight of leading the team with a +17, however. J.R. Smith, his counterpart on the other team, managed just 5 points on 2-6 shooting. Shannon had some good D against him and the Lakers kept that portion of the Nuggets bench from going off -- a key to keeping the Nuggets from a W. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-8 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a +17. The Action: He missed a fade across the lane. Nice D on Smith to deny him a drive. He missed a sideline three. He missed a long wing jumper, but Drew slammed it back in. He forced up a jumper from 20 feet out and airballed. He stripped Billups who tried to swing through on him and took it for the uncontested dunk. Second Half: He missed a three with the shotclock low. He swished a toe-on-the-three-line jumper. Nice recovery to Smith on a fade to force an airball. He attacked and threw the pass away. He missed a good look at a wing jumper with a second on the shotclock on the inbounds pass.

Walton -- -- Ron picked up a couple fouls in the first quarter, so Phil called on Luke and left him in for the remainder of the half. The Lakers never got hurt badly on the Melo vs. Luke match up. Phil stole minutes in the process for Ron in the second half. Good gamble by Phil, good work by Luke to hold down the fort. That could have gone badly for the Lakers (as it has in the past). Much better minutes from Luke in this one. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 2 boards, 3 assists and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He sealed Smith as he cut to the post and scored a layup on the post entry. He attacked and hit Blake across court for a three. He posted up Afflalo, overpowered him and hit the short jumper. He forced up a long jumper on a kickout and missed. He forced a pass to Kobe in the post, turnover (Kobe had bad position and the spacing was off). Second Half: He faked a three on a kickout and hit Lamar for the dunk.

Phil -- -- The Lakers made just 1-7 to start the game. The Lakers were missing easy ones and the Nuggets were getting three's and And-1s. The Lakers trailed 19-12 early... Phil sat Pau for Lamar with 5 minutes left in the quarter... Phil brought in Blake and Brown for Fish and Kobe with 2:43 left, leaving Ron out there to stay with Melo... Ron picked up his second foul and Phil had to sit him for Luke... Lakers missing layups and freethrows all quarter, but trailed just 25-22 after the first... phil started the same unit he closed the first quarter with... They quickly pulled out to a 4-point lead... He sat Pau after 4 minutes for Drew... Three minutes later, he brought back in Kobe for Shannon... Phil called a timeout when their 6-point lead was trimmed to 1. Again, they gave up a little ground midway through the second quarter. That always seems to be their soft spot... Phil came back with the same unit, then subbed out Bynum for Pau after a foul... After Lamar threw a pass away for a layup the other way, Phil called a timeout to get on him for forcing the bad pass... He got away with running Luke against Melo and leaving Ron on the bench for the entire time after he picked up his second foul... The Lakers trailed 52-49 at the half. The Lakers shot 48 percent (22-46, 3-9 from three, 2-5 from the line). The Nuggets shot 46 percent (21-46, 5-11 from three, 5-6 from the line)... The coaches wanted more pounding of the interior and drawing fouls. They were irked at the bad D on Afflalo... Phil had to sit Bynum for Lamar midway through the quarter. Kobe taking over, however, during this stretch... The Lakers led 76-67 with 1:49 left when the next subs came. He brought in Blake for Fisher... A minute later, Kobe for Shannon up by 8... Ron picked up his fourth foul with 26 seconds left trying to help wall off Lawson. Phil brought back in Kobe for Ron... The Lakers led 82-72 heading into the fourth... Phil would go with Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Brown and Blake... He called a timeout with 9:41 when Lamar go run over to give up a layup. He set up a hoop for Lamar out of that. They would extend the lead to 15 a couple minutes later. Good job running offense through Drew... With 6:43 left, he sat Luke for Artest and Kobe for Blake up 94-81... Phil would go with a Pau, Lamar, Kobe, Blake and Fisher lineup later. (Not sure we've seen the Fish/Blake combo on the floor this year.) Could be a little stagnant if they don't hit their threes.)... He brought in Artest for Lamar at PF to match up with Melo at PF... The Lakers shot 53 percent (4-16 from three, 9-14 from the line). They won the boards 47-27 in the process...

[IPK]

1st!
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Our tribute to Phil, the man behind LG

[Mel Rose]

Thanks, quality win and good rebound game.
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Insert something smart here.

[lounger]

It was great effort from the Lakers tonight. They held their ground.

Thanks DB!

[Dr. Laker]

Good job, DB!
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB. I liked Bynum beasting, but I loved watching Artest post up Melo and drawing at least 2 fouls on him. Might as well been Pierce. Or LeBron. Neither are good low post defenders. We need to keep milking that.

[Shaber]

Some good stats in this game.

I wonder how many games a row Drew has had block now?

And five players scoring at least 17 points is a wonderful thing to see.
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Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! I missed the game I'd have really enjoyed seeing the Lakers win in Denver. Good to hear Drew stood his ground and dominated yet another center. I also like how Artest is coming around again. He's had a few good efforts lately.

Maybe those repeated viewings of the Dallas loss drove a point or two home for the Laker players.

[Nobody]

Good win, especially the 2nd half D.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Rick12322]

Thanks DB. I liked the reads Bynum made in the offense. He had some hockey assists from them.

Luke did a good job on Melo. It's amazing what a strong unathletic body can do when it has a high IQ.

[magic_bryant]

It really is disappointing that LO won't make the All-Star game.

Dude is reaching that Chauncey Billups "When the hell did HE become an All-Star" level of Glue Guy turned game-changer.
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Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[limchrc]

thanks

[iLoveLAL]

Great game by the lakers. Great defense from ron, the bigs did their jobs, and kobe did his by giving us the lead going into the 4h.

[LakerEric]

Terrific win and watching the team utilize their strengths was a thing of beauty!!!
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Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous

[babyskyhook]

[babyskyhook]

[Tony Almeida]

Thanks DB.

Kobe's been killing it from midrange for several games now it seem, even had the nice baseline fadeway I was looking out for from a few games ago. Similarly, I prefer those short pull-up jumpers in the paint instead of trying to get to the rim time and time again, especially when he's not getting the call. Or, when he does get the call, suffers from Shaqitis and clanks the free throws.

I don't think it's the finger that's making him shoot poorly from the line. Not when his jumper is looking as smooth as it has (aside from threes, which is still subpar). I'm not concerned though, he'll figure it out, but it's strange thinking he's only going to go 1/2 from the line.

I liked Gasol's energy this game (as evidenced by getting after it on the boards, especially offensive), much better. Also was more aggressive and decisive.

Also, nice all-around game from Artest. It seems rare these days to get a two-way effort from him, so it's a welcome change to have him bring positive impact on both sides of the ball.