««« Lakers -vs- Nuggets 11/30/12 Game Thread »»»

[SilverBullet]

Congratulation to the new Mod of LG, JerryMagicKobe!


︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾

Nuggets @ Lakers
Friday, November 30, 2012
7:30PM PT ✪ 10:30PM ET - Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾

✰✰✰✰✰Lakers✰✰✰✰✰
Current Record:
7-8
Probable Starters:
Kobe Bryant
[Last game: 40 points on 12-28 shooting, 10 rebounds, 3 assists]
Pau Gasol
[Last game: 10 points on 2-9 shooting, 9 rebounds, 3 assists]
Dwight Howard
[Last game: 17 points on 7-10 shooting, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks]
Metta World Peace
[Last game: 4 points on 1-8 shooting, 12 rebounds, 4 assists]
Darius Morris
[Last game: 1 point on 0-6 shooting, 3 steals, 1 rebound]
Injury Report:
Blake (abdomen) will miss at least two more weeks, the Lakers' official Twitter feed reports.
Nash (lower leg) is still unable to run without pain and will be sidelined until at least next
week, the Miami Herald reports.
2012-2013 Team Statistic:
Pace 96.3 (4th)
OFF EFF 103.8 (8th)
DEF EFF 98.3 (5th)
TO 15.9 (30th)

✰✰✰✰✰Nuggets✰✰✰✰✰
Current Record:
8-8
Probable Starters:
Danilo Gallinari
[Last game: 20 points on 6-12 shooting, 9 rebounds, 1 assist]
Kenneth Faried
[Last game: 10 points on 3-6 shooting, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks]
Kosta Koufos
[Last game: 6 points on 3-3 shooting, 5 rebounds, 1 block]
Andre Iguodala
[Last game: 22 points on 8-17 shooting, 4 rebounds, 4 assists]
Ty Lawson
[Last game: 17 points on 7-18 shooting, 9 assists, 4 rebounds]
Injury Report:
WILSON CHANDLER – Left Hip, out.
JULYAN STONE – Right Hip, out.
2012-2013 Team Statistic:
Pace 95.5 (9th)
OFF EFF 103.0 (10th)
DEF EFF 102.3 (19th)
TO 14.6 (19th)

︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾

Team Stat Leaders:
PointsIguodala 15.7 Bryant 27.7
Rebounds Faried 11.1 Howard 10.5
AssistsLawson 7.6 Bryant 4.9
StealsLawson 2.1 Bryant 1.5
Blocks2 players 1.7 Howard 2.8

2012-2013 OVERALL NBA RANKINGS
★ ★ ★Points/Rebounds/Assists/Points Allowed★ ★ ★
Lakers 99.1(10th)/ 45.9(3rd)/ 20.3(24th)/ 95.5(9th)
Nuggets 99.8(6th)/ 46.8(2nd)/ 21.8(10th)/ 98.8(18th)

︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾

Broadcast Information:
ESPN
ASE
TWC Sportsnet/TWC De
KKFN
KSPN
TSN2 (Canada)

Online Streams:
LINK 1
LINK 2
LINK 3
LINK 4
LINK 5
LINK 6

︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾

★Nuggets-Lakers Preview★

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers needed seven games to eliminate the Denver Nuggets
from the playoffs last season.
Getting a victory in their first meeting since will likely require a much better shooting
performance, especially from the free throw line.
Bryant and the Lakers will try to rebound from the team's worst effort of the season Friday
night against the Nuggets.
Los Angeles (7-8) dumped Denver (8-8) out of the opening round of last spring's postseason,
winning 96-87 in Game 7 at Staples Center as Bryant averaged 29.1 points in the series.
The superstar guard isn't far off that pace this season, leading the NBA with 27.7 points per
game. He's averaging 31.8 over the past four games, but the Lakers have dropped three of
them to fall to 2-3 under coach Mike D'Antoni.
They failed to capitalize on another big night by Bryant in Wednesday's 79-77 home loss to
Indiana, giving up the decisive basket with 0.1 seconds to play. Bryant overcame the flu to
pour in 40 points, but he committed 10 turnovers while Los Angeles shot a season-low 31.6
percent from the field and missed 20 of 43 from the line.
"It was just a tough game for us, because we didn't make shots," Bryant said. "On top of that,
we didn't make free throws. I've got to minimize my mistakes. Ten turnovers is way too many
for me, so I have to work on perfecting that and bringing that down. I just felt like I played to
the crowd too much."
Perhaps hosting Denver can provide a spark for the Lakers. They've won 32 of the past 38
meetings there, including a 25-4 record while averaging 109.7 points during the regular season.
Bryant has 29.5 points per contest over the past 25 overall matchups.
He could use some help from Dwight Howard, who is averaging 11.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and
2.8 blocks while hitting only 14 of 31 free throws over the last four games. The All-Star center
showed signs of ending his funk Wednesday with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks,
but he made just 3 of 12 from the foul line.
"It's been a tough stretch for us early in the season," Howard said. "We can't lose our faith.
We'll find a rhythm and we'll get in a groove, but we can't let what we're going through get us
down right now."
Howard is averaging 17.1 points and 13.7 boards in 14 career games versus the Nuggets.
Denver is trying to salvage a win in the finale of this three-game road trip, but the team may
feel it should be looking for a winning record.
Video review stopped the Nuggets' celebrations by showing Andre Iguodala's potential
game-winning 3-pointer came after the buzzer in Thursday's 106-105 loss at Golden State.
Coach George Karl seemed to stop short of declaring a controversy.
"If I put a stopwatch on ... it seems like the clock started early for me," Karl said. "There's
nothing to argue about. The camera says it's in his hands."
Iguodala, who finished with 22 points, leads Denver with 15.7 per game and is shooting 39.3
percent from 3-point range. The swingman is averaging 17.3 points in six road meetings with
the Lakers despite shooting 3 for 19 from beyond the arc.
Danilo Gallinari, who contributed 20 points and nine rebounds Thursday, may be looking to
redeem himself in this visit to Staples Center after making just 1 of 9 shots from the floor to
finish with three points in Game 7. The forward finished the series averaging 13.4 points on
36.2 percent shooting while making only 4 of 23 from long range.

by Nicolino Dibenedetto per NBA

︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾

Did you know:
+The 2 teams have met 150 times in the regular season with the Lakers leading the alltime
series 98-52.
+At STAPLES Center, the Lakers are 20-4 against the Nuggets all-time in the
regular season (7-3 in their last 10).
+Nuggets forwards Wilson
Chandler and Danilo Gallinari and center Timofey Mozgov all played under Lakers
head coach Mike D’Antoni while with the New York Knicks.
+Nuggets head coach George Karl (senior) and Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak (freshman)
played one season together at the University of North Carolina (1972-73).

Read Something:
Lakers leading the league in turnovers. Yay!
The Lakers are pointless without Steve Nash
Former Laker Derek Fisher to join Dallas Mavericks
Former Laker Andrew Bynum in Lawsuit with California Neighbors

Watch Something:
Lets Do Kobe Fadeaway
The Weiner's Circle (WARNING: 18+ only)
How To Pick Up Chicks Scarface Style
Louis CK - Turning 40

︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾︾

Game Thoughts

"Lakers (7-8) play their second home game in a row against the Denver Nuggets (8-8), who have lost their last 2 games, in Utah (105-103) and in GS (106-105).Previously, they had 4 wins in a row, 3 losses in a row, 4 wins in a row and before that 3 losses in a row. It's all about streaks for them, so we can expect a win against them to keep the 3l-4w format . Nuggets are scoring 99.8 ppg (6th), rebounding at a 46.8 rpg rate (2nd) and allowing 98.8 ppg (18th). They will look at Iggy to have another decent game and Ty Lawson to break out of his shooting slump (7-18 last game). Corey Brewer and Javale McGee are their biggest weapons off the bench. Dwight Howard should have a field day against my country man, Kostas Koufos, who isn't the best defender around and mostly scores off rebounds (J-Hill with less activity and no jumpshot).
Lakers are coming off a 79-77 loss against Indiana, in a game which Kobe was playing ill and scored 40, and everyone besides him and Dwight shot dreadfully. Such games happen very rarely, so everyone should hit their shots better against the not-so-good-on-d Nuggets and score near D'Antoni's mark (110-115 points). Kobe will be healthy, so he should play more easily, while Pau will look for a bounce back game, in hopes of winning back everyone's trust. Dwight will have to keep improving to reach 100%. He should dominate on defense against the undersized Nugget's frontline. Darius Morris will have the toughest assignment, going up the offensive machine named Ty Lawson. He'll certainly have his hands full, but if he can have a solid game and keep Lawson to a low scoring and percentage game, he should gain a lot of support from the coaches, the fans and his teammates. He needs good games in order to get the backup PG spot when Nash returns. Rock n Roll AJ didn't play well at all against Indy, so he'll have to bounce back. Same for Jodie Meeks, who's expected to knock down shots and play D. Chris Duhon will have to hit the occasional 3 to space the floor and play good D. Devin Ebanks may finally see some time on the floor. Jordan Hill should also have a good game against the undersized Denver frontline.
All in all, this is a very winnable game for the Lakers, as long as they don't play like they did last time. Solid D, effort and efficiency on the free throws should be the key factors to a win. Lakers by 10."

✧George the Greek✧

︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽

✧I'd like to thank GoldenThroat, JUST-MING, Exick, CandyCanes, 32,
and George the Greek for your guys game thoughts.✧

[8>24]

Miller and Lawson will go off.

[lakerboy]

a W would be nice

[spamurai]

Probably a loss. Have a feeling Kobe might go full on pass mode in this game.

Get well soon Nash.

[SilverBullet]

Stats tell us that the Nuggets are slightly better than the Lakers right now.

Nuggets will have a back-2-back starting tonight game against Warriors. Hopefully that would slow them down a bit when they they play us tomorrow.

[Don Draper]

[K28]

Only reason I say this is a win is because the Nuggets are on a b2b and will probably be hard pressed to run us out of the building.

If this was in Denver, fuhgetaboutit

[dood23]

(bleep) WIN (bleep)

[SilverBullet]

[32]

Nuggets have to play tonight at Golden State. We are catching them on the 2nd game of a back to back.

Go Lakers!
_________________
Nobody in the NBA can touch the Laker brand, which, like the uniform color, is pure gold.

[purple-gold-silver-black]

Pau better call in sick, cuz Kenneth Faried is in town.

[8>24]

[pjiddy]

Wonder if Javale goes off again or if that's just Bynum he destroys.

[goldBLOOD]

Lets go boys! Kill em'.
_________________
You always have to be on edge. You always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last - Kobe

[Lak3rs1987]

7-9

[Flyingplayer77]

I'd say a loss. Lakers still look injured. The whole team looks tired. They will rise soon though.
_________________
"The sword is a weapon of mine, and shall slay all demons into the eternal fires of anguish."

[Lakers95]

I'm not really confident about this game. Fortunately for us, Denver's playing tonight, so they'll be a bit fatigued. Please just (bleep) ing win.

[lakerfan2012]

The way we're currently playing the Wizards would crush us. Loss

[murasakiANDgold]

LakersFirst, I'm blaming you if we lose. When you create the game threads we've been losing recently! I made the Dallas thread and we blew
them out. Somebody else made the thread for the Brooklyn game we won. You're on a 3 game losing streak!!!! (I'm superstitious)

[IPK]

[SilverBullet]

[K2]

Agree these game threads are awesome!

[BlakeJay]

Season has been so frustrating..we should be so much better.I don't get it

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

8-8

[George the Greek]

8-8
_________________