NUGGETS -at- LAKERS - 5/23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Return to Nuggetville... And you hardly recognize the place. Kids play on the once empty swing set. The streets have been freshly paved, buildings painted, trees trimmed. This was where you first picked up the tracks of the Four Horsemen as they turned this city into a wasteland many months ago. My, how some things change.

"Hey, sport," says a man with badge that reads "Mayor." His teeth glimmer in the sunlight. "You okay, there? That's a pretty big lump on your forehead." He winks at you. These days, you don't even bother trying to cover up your injuries and bruises. You live with them and move on. "I'm fine, thanks," you say.

"We don't usually see too many out-of-towners here this time of year," says Mayor Sparkle Teeth. "We're happy to have you. I'll show you around if you'd like."

"I've been here before. Place has changed," you say, looking around again.

"You're right about that, sport. How 'bout I tell you all about it over dinner with the family." You agree to his suspiciously generous hospitality. Over dinner, he regales you with food, wine and details of their resurgence. There's an odd chill in the air. His wife wishes you were dead and his kids openly mock you without restraint. You're leaving a lot of food on your plate, just picking at it. Suddenly, dinner is interrupted by chatter on the Mayor's walkie-talkie. He goes white, "Horsemen? Not City Hall? Nooo!...A mamba? A cobra? Which one?... Both?!!!"

He mutters something, drops his walkie-talkie and bolts from the dinner table, leaving you staring at his wife and kids. In the distance, bells ring out...four...five...six... You grin, pour yourself another glass of wine and finish your plate in sweet silence.

Someone rings the doorbell and the kids run to get it. They come back looking as if they'd seen a dead relative. One open-mouthed brat looks at you and points to the door. At the front of the house, Death sits atop his mount. He tosses you another golden key and nods.

Moments later, back at the table asking about dessert when the walkie-talkie chirps to life. It's DancingBarry:

The Four Horsemen were here. They were pushed, tested and challenged but never gave in. Death delivered severe blows in the final minute of the fight, and a Cobra struck again sealing their opponent's fate.

They will meet again. I will continue to track them...

Another day, another game decided in the final minute. Haven't we seen this somewhere before?

Behind 41 points from Kobe Bryant and another late-game steal from Trevor Ariza, the Lakers regained home court advantage with the 103-97 road win over the Nuggets.

Despite getting to the line 45 times in this game, the Lakers sank just 31 freethrows. You just can't leave 14 points at the line and get away with it too often on the road...but that's just what the Lakers did.

With 1:08 left and the shotclock low, Kobe rose up from the left wing and sank a difficult three to give the Lakers a 96-95 lead. "When you hit a shot like that and everybody goes quiet, it feels good. Feels real good," the Mamba said.

Winning the fourth quarter, 32-18, the Lakers snapped the Nuggets 16-game home win streak. They did it in a hostile environment against a team cruising on their home court. To get another road win, they will have to bring it once again...and will have to be more efficient from the line.


Kobe -- -- The Lakers played a poised game, setting the tone early. They never gave in and kept the Nuggets in striking distance. That's a dangerous place to be when you have Kobe Bryant. He started the game letting others get involved, scoring just 6 points on 2-4 shooting in the first quarter. He'd drop 9, 13 and 12 in the next three quarters as he throttled up the aggression. He scored 10 of his points in the fourth in the final 3 minutes. He'd miss his only two FTs of the game in that stretch, but the relentless offensive pressure from him (and Pau) made the Nuggets lives difficult. This made up for a huge 4-point play Kobe gave up to Billups with 5 minutes left. Kobe was winded, tired and taking all kinds of comments from the Nugget fans. "It really helped me to be honest with you," Kobe said. "I swear to you because I couldn't feel my legs one bit. When they started chanting, it just reminded me what we are playing for." Shake a tree and a leopard might fall out. The refs really need to watch the defender's off hands on Kobe. Even though he got to the line 17 times, it's been a trend in the last two series for defenders to tug at his jersey. J.R. Smith seems to be taking the cue from Battier on this. He got away with it a few times. The Stats: He scored 41 points on 12-24 shooting (2-5 from three, 15-17 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed an elbow jumper on tight D. He posted up Jones and easily drew FTs, he made both. He pushed out a rebound and scored a layup with ease. He missed a 20-footer in early offense. He lost his man on a fly by and hit a short bank. He drained a baseline turnaround on the post up. He hit Brown for a reverse layup. He probed on the two-man with Bynum, found nothing, pulled it back out and missed a chuck from three when the shotclock was low. Quick attack in early offense and he scored a layup straight down the lane. He spun away from a double team at the top of the key, attacked the lane and scored the easy layup. He missed a pull-up jumper. He got up high for an outlet on D and stole it. He sank a baseline jumper off the high screen and over a double team. His layup was goaltended with no call. He made a tech FT. He had 15 points on 6-11 shooting. Second Half: He scooped up a loose ball and scored a breakaway layup. He forced up a wing jumper, missed, layup the other way for his man who leaked out. He got blocked on a drive and came down awkwardly. He missed a short floater. Wide open out of a timeout and he swished a wing three. He blew past his man and was pushed hard from behind, he made both FTs. He hammered down a vicious And-1 dunk off the lob from Luke, he made the FT. He was stripped while showing the ball on the perimeter. He missed a pull-up jumper over Martin. Next time against Martin, he attacked, got contact and FTs, he made both. He made a tech FT. He skied for a missed Sasha jumper to regain possession. He airballed a three. He made a tech FT to start the fourth before resting. He had 29 points on 9-19 shooting. He posted up and hit a tough baseline turnaround, Smith on his jersey. He missed a wing three, should have been three FTs as Smith yanked on his jersey again. He fouled Billups on a corner three off an inbounds pass (Nuggets took a 3-point lead off that play). He blew past Melo from the top of the arc and hit the And-1 floater, he missed the FT. He missed a long chuck out of a timeout (what was that play? Should have had something better set up). He drained a wing three with 3 seconds left on the shotclock to take a 1-point lead with 1:08 left (he said Smith got some of his hand on the way up and he had to put something extra on it to get the shot there). He drew FTs on Smith attacking baseline with 38 seconds left, he made just one to lead by just 2. He was fouled on an inbounds with 22 seconds left up by 2, he made both FTs. Billups missed a long three over him, he was fouled again with 12 seconds left and made both clutch ones again.

Gasol -- -- Pau played with some heart in that fourth quarter. There were a couple post-up scores where he just willed the ball in. The Lakers one-two punch throwing haymakers. Loved seeing that fight from him, especially when you consider he had played the entire second half...in Denver. Some improved sequences team-D wise on Melo in this game. "We did a better job helping our guys on his penetration," Pau said. The Lakers, however, still had issues in their defensive schemes and this left the Nuggets bigmen open for some easy dunks. They've got to work more on helping the helper to take away some of the easy ones. That means Pau, too, also needs to rotate/recover to bigs the moment the ball is swung away from the strong side. We missed his presence on the offensive glass in this game. Give some credit to the Nuggets, but we also ran a lot more offense through Pau, which meant more heavy lifting from the post. The Lakers need to keep giving him the ball. Don't go away from the post. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting (6-8 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 43 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He got stripped by Jones not protecting the ball, layup the other way. He attacked Nene off the dribble and swished a turnaround from 8 feet out. He attacked to his left and hit a short hook over Nene with his left. He missed a jumphook over Andersen. He drew FTs when Luke whipped a pass to him, he made one. He faced up, attacked to his right and hit a jumphook. He couldn't secure a defensive board and it resulted in an And-1. He attacked down the middle of the lane and dunked. He had 9 points on 4-7 shooting and 6 boards. Second Half: He was drilled off the two-man game when Bynum found him on a high-low and he made both FTs. He flashed weak to strong and drew FTs on the post entry (that's how you've got to move to avoid getting easily fronted), he made one. He grabbed a loose ball from Brown and dunked. Nice D on Nene in the post, then he picked up Nene's fifth foul fighting for the miss. He drew FTs going to work against Andersen in the post, he made both. He was blocked while falling back after the chair was pulled on him. He missed a short jumphook. Tough turnaround taking contact, but he still willed it in. He drained another difficult turnaround on iso with the shotclock low.

Bynum -- -- A lot of controversy heading into the game regarding Phil's use of Bynum and virtually anything Bynum says in response to reporter's questions. Bynum played a little longer, although didn't see any daylight in the fourth as Pau and Lamar played the entire quarter. Like last game, the Lakers looked to get the ball to Bynum to start the game. Unlike the last game, they also looked for him to start the second half. The Lakers did a lot of ball reversing to try to get him the ball. Bynum has to do a better job fighting for deep position (on those plays and in general). He had it on a few sequences, but not on others and that resulted in him shooting a lot of longer turnarounds. That's not imposing your size the way you should. Defensively, he had some decent sequences anchoring the paint, including a great roof job on Melo to get one stop. It may be more difficult to run the floor in Denver, but Bynum needs to make sure he gets back in transition. The Nuggets capitalized on a few of those. Hit your FTs, Drew! The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-6 shooting (3-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He swatted Kenyon's drive. He missed a turnaround bank (needed to fight for better position). Bad turnaround jumper, not fighting for position again. He swatted Jones, but then gave up an And-1 to Nene (cheap foul). He then sat after 6 minutes with his second foul, and BShaw had some words with him on the bench (glad to see some coach talking to him). He missed a baseline jumphook. He let his man step around him to steal a pass. He drew FTs on the secondary break when Luke found him, he made one. He sank a long turnaround with the shotclock low, slow to get back on D, didn't match up and Andersen had a layup. He didn't box out Nene and gave up an And-1 putback off a missed three. He had 3 points on 1-4 shooting and 3 boards in 14 minutes. Second Half: Good job fighting for position and he hit a jumphook. He attacked down the lane when the offense stalled and he missed a runner, poor decision. He was hit on a turnaround in the post next time down and drew FTs, he made one. He was stripped in the post, FTs the other way. Great D roofing Melo with both hands and knocking it off him. He was fouled away from the ball in the post for FTs, he made one. Great high-low feed to Pau for FTs off the two-man sequence (haven't seen enough of that, more please).

Ariza -- -- "We got the steal, we got the win," the Cobra said. Another game down to the wire, another big play on an inbounds pass in the final minute of a wire-to-wire game. Heck of a game from Ariza. He hit the floor hard on a drive after he and Pau collided with each other. He had to leave the game in pain after that play. He went to the locker room, but started the fourth quarter. "It hurt me all the way up until I went back and got some treatment," Trevor said. Whatever magic Vitti worked in the locker room, props to him. Ariza came up huge in that fourth on a number of plays on both ends. He hit two bigs threes and knocked down a couple clutch FTs off that steal. Melo had 21 points on 4-13 shooting (1-7 from three). The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-8 shooting (3-5 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He swished a turnaround jumper from 16 feet out, just beating the shotlclock. He airballed a three with the shotclock low. He scored a layup on the break when Fisher stripped his man and fed him. He missed a three and it led to a scramble on D for the Nuggets to drain a three. He was stripped on a breakaway, blowing a sure hoop (should have thrown it up to Gasol a few steps earlier, instead FTs for Melo). He kept an offensive board alive and it led to a Pau dunk. He pushed out a turnover for FTs in transition, he made one. He swished a wing three with 8 seconds left in the half. Second Half: He deflected a pass to get a stop. He missed a layup when he attacked off the three line, getting up-ended by Pau (he went to the bench in pain). Back in to open the fourth, he blocked Melo's jumper. He swished a wing three in early offense. He swished a corner three after attacking baseline, passing out and getting it back. He fouled Melo away from the ball for FTs. He swiped another midcourt inbounds pass with 37 seconds left and was fouled (looked like a clear-path foul), he made both clutch ones. Big FTs and Carmelo fouled out on that play.

Fisher -- -- Kobe said DFish pulled everyone together in the fourth quarter to remind them that this is what it was about...gut-check time. Down the stretch in this game, Phil had Kobe on Billups and Fisher on J.R. Smith. Very tough matchup defensively for Fish. He did his best on that end and had a decent game defensively overall. He led the team in steals, including a nice one to stop a break. What is still troubling is some of the offensive execution. Prior to the game, DFish said he would have to do a better job getting the ball into the right spots on offense. Yet, we still saw some indulgent sequences. A charge on a drive with under 3 minutes left was probably the worst. He did keep the perimeter chucks down, which is an improvement. Hit those freethrows, DFish! The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He drained a three behind a high screen to start the game. He attacked baseline and drew contact for FTs, he missed both of them (really leaning forward on his toes). He stripped his man and pushed it out to get a layup for Ariza. He missed a baseline jumper. He was left alone under the hoop and Kobe hit him for a layup. He missed a wing jumper. He was tripped with no call. Second Half: He missed a long three on a kickout. He stopped a two-on-one break with a steal. He picked up a tech when he and Martin shoved/bumped each other. He missed a corner three. He slipped and had to call timeout with 2:46 left. He charged into Nene on a drive with 2 minutes left. (Just not smart ball by DFish, attacking the lane with the ball in his hands is not our bread and butter. We need to be using our best weapons in crunch time.)

Lamar -- -- Two lob passes on inbounds over Lamar in the final minutes and two steals for Trevor Ariza this series. "You have to give some credit to our guy guarding the ball out of bounds," Phil said. Once again, Lamar made a difference on a late-game deadball situation. "The pressure on the passer created the mistakes," George Karl said afterward. Lamar played the entire fourth quarter as Phil once again opted to sit Bynum for that final quarter. This time, however, we put Lamar in to start the quarter instead of going to a one-impact-player lineup like the last one. Talent won out as the Lakers got off to a good start to the fourth. Lamar went up against Kleiza and we attacked the post with LO. Play your most talented ballers, Phil. He still struggled with that in this game as we got just 30 minutes for LO and 21 for Bynum. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-5 shooting (0-2 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He attacked to his left and drew FTs in the lane on Martin, he made one. He attacked from thewing, spun on Anderson and banked in the layup (he wanted the foul, too). He was stripped off the dribble. He pushed out a rebound and drew FTs, he made both. He missed an early offense three. Second Half: He backed Andersen under the hoop and scored an easy jumphook before the buzzer went off. He was swatted by the Birdman on a post up attempt next time down trying to work against Kleiza. He didn't get back in transition D and Martin dunked in a blocked shot, Phil ripped LO a new one. He drew FTs when Kenyon went over his back on the glass, he made just one with 1:46 left. Lamar again on the inbounds pass and Ariza comes up with another steal.

Luke -- -- Pretty dang good game from Luke holding down the fort on Melo while Ariza was hurting in the third quarter. He crowded him and played our schemes well. Melo only had 3 points in the second half. Luke couldn't hit squat, of course, on the other end but at least he limited the brickage. He hit Pau and Kobe with a couple of excellent passes for scores. Hit your freethrows, Luke! The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He drew FTs while sealing his man, he missed both FTs, however. He set up Pau for FTs, whipping a pass to him under the hoop. Second Half: He forced Melo into a hook foul, crowding him and drawing attention to it (Melo's fourth). He then lobbed to Kobe backdoor on the other end for an And-1 dunk. He drew a charge on Smith on help D. He missed a baseline jumper.

Brown -- -- He came in midway through the second quarter when Billups returned to the floor and he ran with the starters. I'd like to see more of this unit. There were times in this game when you would see our perimeter guys stand around and not cut. The offense can get a little stagnant and Brown tends to work off the ball a lot better than Fisher and Sasha. (He can also finish waaaay better, too.) If Phil's looking for more dynamic to his offense, Brown will give him that. Defensively, some better sequences. He got his hand on the ball against Billups a couple times. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 block and 1 foul in 8 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: Great cut under the hoop as Kobe was about to go up for a jumper, Kobe spotted him and Brown reversed. He missed a three when hesitating. He then missed a corner three a moment later. Second Half: He blocked Billups on the break, but the Nuggets still scored (LO got lit into by Phil for not getting back fast enough).

Vujacic -- -- The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He threw a pass away, dunk in transition (this after Phil just said we want to keep momentum). He missed a wing three. Poor help on the zone D and it cost us a dunk. Second Half: He missed Kobe cutting backdoor, opting to hit Luke for a jumper. He missed a fading baseline jumper (rarely hits those when fading...well, I guess rarely hits those at all these days). He hit a three off the Pau kickout. He missed a wing three next time down on a Kobe kickout. He fouled 80 feet from the hoop on an inbounds to start the fourth...Sasha should trademark that move.

Farmar -- -- Farmar has got to watch the sequences where he compounds an error. He was called for a travel, threw the ball in anger for a tech (fourth quarter on the road) and then on the next possession he was picked from behind trying to push the ball up. Those are the plays where you've got to have your head in the game. You're not a rookie, Farmar. Play with poise and composure on the road. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He swished a baseline jumper off the two-man game. He had an alley-oop in his hands, but came down with it, then got swatted (seems like this play hasn't converted the last 4 or 5 times we've ran it for him). He missed a corner three. Second Half: He was called for a travel then chucked the ball out of bounds for a tech, just giving away points, stupid. He then lost the ball in transition next time down. Compounding mistakes, Phil than sat him for Brown.

Phil -- -- Measured start to the game for the Lakers. They seemed to spread the ball around, but again they started the offense slowly and had a few sequences of having to try to beat the shotclock. They are looking to set the pace... Some poor execution offensively (Kobe not aggressive) and the Lakers quickly trailed 25-17 after a dry spell... The Lakers trailed 28-26 despite going 4-10 from the line in the first quarter. Melo had 8 of the Nuggets 13 FTs in that quarter... "We're fouling early so we don't foul late," Phil joked... He started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup... The Nuggets have 15 FTs off just 9 Laker fouls. A lot of fouling in the act... With Kobe attacking on the dribble, the Lakers tied it up 39-39 running a Bynum, Pau, Ariza, Kobe, Brown lineup... The Lakers trailed 52-48, going just 9-17 from the line in the first half. The Nuggets made 17-20 from the line. Difference in the ball game. The Nuggets shot 40.5 percent (17-42), the Lakers 47.5 percent (19-40). L.A. was 1-9 from three, the Nuggets 1-11... Phil called a timeout after 3 minutes as the Lakers gave up a series of layups... Ariza had to come out for Luke when he hurt himself. He later went to the locker room... Phil brought in Sasha for Bynum with 5 minutes left in the third. Uggh... A minute left in the third and the Lakers give up two offensive boards before a hoop. Then a couple more threes to the Nuggets and quickly they trailed by 8 points, 79-71 heading into the fourth... Phil started the fourth with the Pau, Lamar, Ariza, Sasha and Farmar lineup. Two impact players on the court, unlike last time... He then subbed in Brown for Farmar... The Lakers trailed 85-83 when the timeout came midway through the fourth. They held the Nuggets to just 6 points in those first 6 minutes. The Lakers were in the bonus a few seconds later... With 2:46 we called a timeout and we ended up with Kobe chucking a 22-footer with a man all over him. You're in the bonus attack, don't settle. Not sure what the play call was... Phil called a timeout with 46 seconds left up by 1. Out of the timeout, Kobe iso'd on Smith on the right side. He attacked and earned FTs... A combined 76 FTs were shot in the game. The Nuggets made 26-31, the Lakers 31-45. The Nuggets shot just 5-27 from three, the Lakers 6-19 (5-10 in the second half)... The Lakers shot 46 percent, the Nuggets 39 percent...

Game Flow -- LINK -- The Lakers rarely led in this game, but they never let the Nuggets get more than an 8-point lead. They turned the corner in that fourth quarter.

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Great win by the Lakers in a tightly contested game.

Kobe, Pau and Trevor were huge in the 4th quarter.

10 down, 6 more wins to go.

Thanks as always for your recaps DB!
BTW - 1st!
_________________
"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[Vishnu]

Thanks DB.

[hoops19]

amen to that.... i hope the win tonight could bring positive vibes and help keep the momentum of our side going to monday's game......

[Tony Almeida]

[Vishnu]

It looks like Sasha is going to be in the rotation for good. Maybe, if he committed 4 fouls 80 feet away from the basket per game, Phil would take him out.


I like Sasha, but I'm surprised Phil hasn't been harder on him.

[City_Dawg]

[WestwoodOne]

It's interesting that Trevor has been involved in all 3 late game turnovers: game clinching steals in game 1 and 3, and a costly turnover in game 2.

Happy to see Kobe is still Kobe. Pau woke up in the 4th quarter.

[DancingBarry]

[aluolaker]

great stuff! thanks

[Vishnu]

[Qsmiff]

I thought "9Rings" coached a lot better.... he called well timed time outs--he never let the deficit get past eight points, actually let Drew play,.kept a short leash on Sasha and Luke

[Addicus]

In the middle of the 3rd I said to myself - Ooks like we have no one willing to step up hisgame. I'm so glad Trevor and Pu decided to attack.
_________________
Stop crying and start doing.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addicusbrown

[Klone_dd]

[36OFerrari]

hey do any of you have links to the full after the game press conferences?

nba.com/videos are cut down to bits.

[Tanlentueux]

i'm happy !

[dna.]

Last year after the playoffs ended for us everyone was talking about Bynum: how much we missed him and how much of a difference it would make for us next year if we had him in the playoffs... some people thought I was crazy when I said I could easily see Ariza making as much or more of a difference and that not having him around may have hurt us just as much last year...

I'm guessing they have come to see things my way by now.

[AprilRyan]

Great game by the Lakers. I was expecting a blowout by the Nuggets. Glad to be proven wrong

[Laker7]

I would have liked to have seen PJ put Bynum in when Nene picked up his 5th to punish the remaining Nugget bigs (Martin is too short and Anderson is not a good one on one defender).

Veteran, shmeteran. Fish on Smith defensively late in the game was a gamble that could have easily backfired on us. Brown would have been a better choice.

They outplayed us for the first 3 quarters then started making mistakes and we were able to take advantage. I doubt we have the energy to do it two games in a row but we will see. It will be 3-1 or 2-2 but it is better than 1-3.
_________________
Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[IPK]

[A Mad Chinaman]

It sure took the Lakers a little time to actually get interested in the game while following the defensive schemes. As Phil had shared - I guess they decided to commit as many fouls as early as they can in the game before getting serious.

Though Bynum is getting better, it appears that Bynum hasn't fully recovered (obviously) enough to move his feet to effectively defend and jumping quickly so that he can powerup with dunks/blocks

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks again DB!!

10 down, 6 to go!! I hope Kobe's rested and ready Monday, Trev, Pau, LO too.

This team seems to get better on the road once again.

I hope the Lakers can replicate what they did to the Nuggets in the fourth Quarter.

Kobe having an amazing series

[Rick12322]

[limchrc]

Great win. Hope we can find a way to get game 4 as well.

[PopcornMachine]