NUGGETS -at- LAKERS - 5/27 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Candy Man... Arrows fly in your direction every time you try to lift your head up. Your opponent keeps you pinned down, but you and Angel manage to hold the high ground. This is your city. You know it well, but if help doesn't show up sometime soon, all may be lost.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him...

The wind kicks up and dust swirls through the air, forcing you to shield your eyes. You hear Angel screaming in the wind at the top of her lungs. He peak up and she's standing on the top of the rocks, arms spread apart, yelling, cheering for something. When the dust settles, you stand with her and spot the silhouettes of the Four Horsemen and their Death Riders.

The familiar bells ring out... three ... four ... five ... and then they stop. The Four Horsemen have won.

Famine approaches atop his mount. He throws you a bag of Lifesavers. Apparently, he's been dishing them out all day and may have saved some lives on the battlefield, as well. He then tosses you another golden key. You're third.

"One more and we open the gate," Angel says. "Little Larry O'Brien will finally be in play." You want to ask her more, but just then an arrow arcs through the sky and lands at your feet. Something is taped to it, a note from DancingBarry:

The Four Horsemen were here. Each of them brought something different to the battle. Each were necessary for the win. One of the littlest Death Riders carried the fight to the opponent, but none of the Horsemen may have been bigger than Famine.

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

Midway through the third quarter, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown came off the bench to spark the Lakers with some spectacular two-way play. After falling behind at least once every quarter, the Lakers carried this momentum to an 11-0 fourth quarter start to take the 103-94 win before a buzzing Staples crowd.

Fighting off his injuries, Lamar poured on 19 points and 14 boards, including 8 points and 7 boards in the fourth. Shannon Brown hounded Billups on D, forcing him into several turnovers -- one of which turned into a massive throwdown over the Birdman.

The Lakers started the fourth quarter with three impact players on the floor along with Shannon Brown, who was also providing spark. Their defense locked down. On the other end, they started to get into the interior.

They won the points in the paint 54-36 in a largely halfcourt game. Struggling to get the ball in the post and only shooting 3-16 from three, they got spacing with ball movement.

Denver likes to front the post, which is nothing the Lakers haven't seen before. The counters to fronting the post typically involve sealing and ball movement. Triangle corner sequences, high-lows and ball reversals to the weakside are all available. The only play the Lakers occasionally ran to get the ball in the post in this series have been some of the ball reversals to the weakside. Typically, those are for Bynum to get touches.

In the fourth quarter, they worked Kobe off the high screens to spread the floor against the Nuggets, who were trapping him off the screens. He pulled them out of the paint. The spacing and quick ball movement that followed allowed the Lakers to then get the ball to their bigmen. Lamar and Pau both had 8 points a piece in the final quarter.

"It was a big gamble for me coming in," Kobe said, "but I wanted to kind of change my approach for this game and be more of a decoy."

After the game, George Karl moped about the reffing. "Phil's so much better at it than I am," he said of the post-game commenting on the officiating. Then he went on for a couple minutes about the whistles. Welcome to two days ago, George.

The Lakers can return to the Finals with a road win in Denver. "We have to stay focused, stay poised and just cut them up," Kobe said.


Kobe -- -- Floor General Bryant. "I just had to quarterback it a little bit," Kobe said. Like a QB, he was also intense while barking orders in the huddle on the sidelines. With the Nuggets trying to take the ball out of his hands with extra defenders, Kobe orchestrated a fourth quarter with his imprint all over it despite not scoring much. He worked the high screens to pull defenders out, then hit open men, allowing the Lakers to pound it down low. Down the stretch, Kobe told Pau to go to work in the post, and he got him the ball and cleared out. It wasn't a clean game from Kobe. He had nearly as many turnovers as assists. But when he settled into taking the instant double when he touched the ball and pull defenders out to the perimeter, the Nuggets D was scrambling on their heels. Opening the floor as we did also helped get Lamar involved more offensively. The Lakers got some excellent vet leadership from Kobe. He shot a number of threes, but most were with the shotclock low trying to bail out the offense. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 6-13 shooting (1-6 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 7 turnovers and 3 fouls in 45 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He sank a long two with the shotclock low. He was stripped and it drew a foul in transition on the other end. He missed an early offense three. He lobbed to Bynum for a dunk out of a timeout. Quick attack in transition, getting speed in the offensive zone, he drew FTs, he made both. He was stripped with no call. He fouled Kleiza on a three (no reason to sag off him when Nene was trying to iso against Bynum). He was called for a travel on a drive. He backed down Billups and drew his third foul of the half, he made both FTs. He curled down the lane, took a pass and scored an And-1 while gathering a loose ball and somehow throwing it in, he made the FT. He put in a tough lob from Lamar. He attacked, drew the D and hit Sasha for a corner three. He had 11 points on 3-4 shooting, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls. Second Half: He threw down a 30-foot lob dunk from DFish (should have been an And-1, too). He sank a pull-up 20-footer. Bad D, giving up a straight line and a FTs from the corner. He gave up a putback tip in to Jones with no box out after we had a good defensive sequence. He hit Brown for a layup after drawing a sideline double. He was called for a charge while slicing down the lane. He didn't get set on a long three and didn't draw iron. He sank a three out of a timeout to counter Billups three on the other end. He tried to force a pass to LO in traffic, turnover. He missed a floater but got it back. He stalled the offense and had the ball poked from him on the inbounds, he then didn't hit iron on a chuck from three trying to beat the shotclock. He set up Lamar who threw down a huge And-1 dunk in the middle of the lane. He missed a tech FT, arrggh. He was drilled in the face on a hard foul from Melo, he made both FTs (he was fouled by Billups before that, too, with no call). He lost the dribble trying to split a double team. He had it poked loose again. He missed a three out of a timeout with the shotclock low. He was stripped again attacking down the lane. He couldn't handle the return feed from Pau, turnover. He was open for three, jump passed instead to Lamar under the hoop for the And-1. He attacked down the lane and finally got a whistle, he made both FTs. He missed a three running the clock down on the final possession.

Gasol -- -- Great game from Pau. He was anchoring the D in a big way. "If we're able to put stretches of stops defensively, I think we're going to have a better change to win ball games. We did that tonight," Pau said. He led the team with 5 blocks, but he had a number of good challenges that forced misses, as well. He's in the mix on every play in our defensive schemes. Karl was annoyed that Pau only had one foul, but he was getting ball cleanly on those blocks (you could have made a case for one charge foul on the other end). Offensively, he drew a crowd anytime we could get the ball into him...which was rare. When we did get it to him, good things happened, particularly with Ariza cutting off him. When we stretched the D in the fourth and used him with Kobe on the two-man game, the Lakers took advantage. Passing the ball and off-the-ball movement will get you post touches no matter how the D is playing you or how poorly players are shooting from the perimter. Pau was in on a number of big plays, including one with Shannon Brown. Pau pushed out the break and set up Shannon for a huge throwdown against the Birdman that punctuated the Laker turnaround in the third quarter. "I just kept looking at Chris Andersen's eyes and delivered it to Shannon," Pau said, "and Shannon finished it really well. Those kind of plays, obviously, get the crowd and the team going." The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 5 blocks, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 45 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: Nice help D to challenge Melo for a miss. He took the high lob from Ariza and scored the layup. Finally a post-up attempt after 9 minutes, he handed off to Ariza for a layup. Another handoff next time down and two FTs for Ariza when Birdman fouled him. He swatted Andersen. He missed a turnaround, not getting it off clean. He missed a runner, should have kept going to finish strong. He no-looked over his head to Bynum under the hoop for the And-1. He scored an And-1 layup off the Lamar drive and dish, he missed the FT. He had 4 points on 2-4 shooting, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Second Half: He fumbled away a tough pass from Kobe in transition. Quick attack off the post entry and he was fouled (more please). He gave up a missed FT rebound to Andersen, this led to an And-1, big sequence in the third. He dunked off the interior feed from Ariza. He swatted a dunk attempt. He attacked down the lane, spun and hit a jumphook taking contact. He fronted Nene on post D and drew an offensive foul, then Nene got T'd up. Quick dive to the post, drew the post entry pass and hit the jumphook. He drew FTs against Andersen in the post, he made both. He denied Melo's drive with a block. He drew FTs with 4 minutes left iso'ing against Nene (who fouled out), he made both. Another Ariza handoff and an And-1 for Ariza off the cut. He blocked Melo's drive again. He was blocked by Kenyon after backing him down. Nice challenge on Kleiza to force another miss.

Bynum -- -- The Lakers looked to establish Bynum early in this game, going after Nene in the post. Again, we can get the ball to him easily on ball reversals and seals. (Watch Pau cutting strong side while Bynum seals weakside. We ran this two games ago, but not the last game.) Also any time Bynum runs the floor and posts up quickly or goes to the rim, it usually catches the D off guard. While we did a good job going to the post to start the game, we neglected it to start the second half. We paid the price. "We didn't go inside once in the third quarter," Phil said. Defensively and on the boards, he didn't own the paint like he should. He's really got to move his feet with our overload zones or the Nuggets can get in there for second chances. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-9 shooting (1-3 from the line), 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a jumphook badly, not getting low position. He drew a foul off the ball fighting for position as we worked the ball reversal his way. He missed a step-back fade in the post. He set a screen for Kobe, then dunked off a lob pass set up on a baseline out-of-bounds play when Kobe returned fed him. He posted up Nene, went up and under and dunked (that's more like it). He picked up his second foul with 4:32 left in the first and had to sit shortly later. Back in, he smothered Nene, forcing him to throw a bad pass. He hit Luke wide open under the hoop for a score. He missed a layup, rushing an easy one in transition. He drew FTs off the two-man game with Luke, he made one. He hit a jumphook over Andersen on the right block. He fronted Nene and forced a bad pass. He missed a short jumphook, got it back and missed the layup, should have tried to dunk. He dunked in an And-1 after running the floor when Gasol drew a double and found him, he missed the FT. He had 9 points on 4-9 shooting and 2 boards in 13 minutes. Second Half: No post feeds in the second half, Bynum picked up a couple fouls and had to sit after 5 minutes.

Ariza -- -- Trevor said before the game that some of the antics of the Nuggets at the end of the last game didn't sit well with the Lakers. Trash talking, threes and dunks in a game that was over. Then leaving going to the locker room early while the clock was still running down...you could see it in the Lakers faces. They were ticked. Tonight, they responded. Trevor and Pau combined on several simple Triangle handoffs for easy scores. Just some great work cutting with speed off the post entry passes. The more he can make Melo work on that end, the better, but it was burning the Nuggets on some simple offensive execution. Defensively, Melo didn't shoot great, but he was the main point of attack and scored with some efficiency. Our overload schemes are still getting picked apart. The Lakers have to be careful on how much they over play and how predictable they can be. Ariza has to do his best to not allow straight-line drives. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting (0-2 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He attacked and hit off the glass. He picked up a foul getting back late in transition D (only other person trying to get back other than Kobe, who coughed it up). He missed a twisting layup attacking baseline in transition. He reversed directions off Pau, took the handoff and scored an easy layup. He drew FTs taking another handoff from Pau, he made one. He drew a charge on Billups getting back in transition (Billups second foul of the first quarter). He missed a three, hesitating before the shot. He picked up his third foul of the half away from the ball, giving up FTs. Second Half: He missed an early offense three. He attacked off the three line, hung and scored a tricky layup. He pump-faked Nene into the air at the three line, drawing his fourth foul and getting three FTs, he made two of them. He drew Andersen to him under the hoop, then fed Pau for the dunk. He swatted Melo from behind, then tried to dive into the crowd to get the ball. He attacked with speed off the Pau post and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT.

Fisher -- -- If you're going to take them, you better make them. DFish was finally connecting with some consistency in the first half of this game. I don't mind the late in the clock jumpers, but the early offense shots are the ones that hurt. He's still struggling with the three range. Defensively, he actually had a decent game at the PG spot. He had to go up against Billups a lot more than we have been allowing. Billups getting into a little foul trouble also allowed for some different first half rotations for Fish. Both he and Brown did a good job containing him. (Brown, of course, was sensational). Fish got into foul trouble in the third and Brown coming in helped change the game. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed a wide open three to start the game, Billups hit one over him on the other end. He hit a pull-up jumper at the FT line. He swished a step-back 20-footer. He swished an early offense sideline jumper on iso, not great shot selection. He missed a baseline floater. He was knocked down by Nene on the sideline for a foul and hit both FTs. He missed an open corner three. He attacked baseline and scored a layup. Horrible pass in transition, turned into a dunk the other way. He missed a two-for-one pull-up jumper. He had 10 points on 4-8 shooting (0-2 from three). Second Half: He hit Kobe on a 30-foot lob attempt off a back screen for a dunk. He threw a pass away trying to force it on the baseline. Back in after a long rest and he fouled Melo on a reach for FTs. He passed up a jumper and looked to feed Lamar against Billups and it drew FTs. He didn't draw iron on an open 20-footer. He was fouled on the inbounds purposely and made both.

Lamar -- -- Odomination. "If my back is hurt, if it isn't hurt, I'm just going to go out there and give it 100 percent," Lamar said. He started to dominate the glass and with Kobe spacing the floor, he had room to work in the paint on the offensive end, including a huge And-1 throwdown in the fourth. "Sometimes aggression comes out and it cameout with a scream after that dunk," LO said. There was a stretch where he was dominating the defensive paint, grabbing boards, challenging shots, controlling the interior. These are the things we missed from him in the last game. The Lakers were down in the third when he and Shannon came in and turned the tables on the Nuggets. That's the bench play the Lakers need. Bring it again, LO. Bring it again. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-15 shooting (1-1 from three, 4-7 from the line) to go with 14 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 4 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +18. The Action: He hit a jumphook, flashing to the ball in the post. He missed on a drive to his right. He got swatted by Andersen, not making the extra pass. He was blocked by Andersen at the rim on a throwdown attempt (again, the extra pass and it's a layup for Pau). He missed a three. Next time against Birdman, he took the body on the shot to score an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He drew FTs in the middle of the lane in early offense, he made one. Nice hustle to get an offensive board off the FT miss. He attacked and hit Pau for an And-1. He grabbed another missed FT, missed his putback, but powered up and scored on the next attempt. Pressure D in the backcourt and Kleiza fumbled it out of bounds. He had 8 points on 3-9 shooting and 6 boards (4 offensive) in 12 minutes (just 1 foul). Second Half: He swished an open wing three to tie the game late in the third. He got hammered with no call in front of Garretson and missed a layup. He lost the ball on the dribble trying to create with the shotclock low. He rushed an easy layup and missed point blank. Huge poster job And-1 dunk on Andersen after Kobe set him up in the paint, he made the FT. He sealed off his man during ball movement, took the post entry and scored the easy jumphook. He dove to the floor to recover a loose ball and called timeout. He drew FTs when Billups was on him in the post, he missed both with 3 minutes (got to make those, LO). He swatted Kenyon to save a hoop. He scored an And-1 layup when Kobe found him under the hoop.

Luke -- -- Luke was in there during our fourth quarter run. The Nuggets continue to sag off our SF spot, but with Kobe pulling defenders way out on the perimeter, Luke could help dictate the next passes to set up the offense. This should also set up some two-on-one sequences for him in the middle of the key to set up Pau...just have to execute properly. Thankfully, Melo sat that first 2:30 of the fourth quarter. Luke's got to watch not giving Melo a straight line on the shading. The D can't help as effectively if a guy gets to attack straight to the rim. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He swatted Melo from behind. He scored an uncontested layup. He grabbed an offensive board, missed, got it back and scored the layup. He worked the two-man with Bynum to set him up for FTs. He missed an open jumper. Second Half: His lob pass to Pau was deflected, sure hoop lost. He took all kinds of contact on a layup attempt and missed with no call.

Brown -- -- Shannon Brown's coming for you Chris Andersen. He's got you sized up... Down by 6 points in the third, "I put him in the ballgame and said you've got to make things happen for us," Phil said of Brown. Shannon got the Staples crowd screaming with a huge throwdown over the Birdman in transition (payback's a...). The play was set up when he forced Billups into throwing away the ball as he tried to draw a foul that Shannon dodged. Just a sensational two-way game from Brown. He also hit a crazy 21-footer to beat the shotclock. Again, as mentioned previously, he's one of our better off-the-ball cutters. He helped manufacture a layup once again this game. Seems like every game he's getting one. Defensively, he then locked down on Billups. Best D we've seen from Brown all series. Phil said he was going to sit him for Farmar in the fourth if the Nuggets went with Carter. They played Billups to start the fourth and Phil kept Brown on him. The Lakers locked down, holding the Nuggets scoreless in the first 4 minutes of the fourth. Huge game from Shannon. He took away one of the Nuggets impact players and the Lakers took an 11-point lead. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with no other stats in 14 second-half minutes. He was a +13. The Action: Did not play in the first half. Second Half: Bad drive against Andersen and he was swatted easily. He missed an open corner three. He cut under the hoop and was covered, pulled back out, then cut again and scored the layup when Kobe found him. He forced a bad pass on D, got the ball with speed in transition and threw down a huge dunk over Andersen on the break to cut the lead to 3. Great D again smothering Billups and forcing him into passing and a shotclock violation. He went under a screen and got wiped out with a moving pick and gave up a three (can't go under Billups if our big isn't showing). Huge, huge, huge jumper, pulling up from the wing with the shotclock going off and sinking the 21-foot fade.

Vujacic -- -- Phil limited Sasha's minutes drastically. Sasha, for his part, filled his role hitting one of his threes in his limited action. It was on a situational sub at the end of the half. That's the last Sasha saw of the court. So, I guess that's two decent games from Sasha in a row. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (both threes) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was +1. The Action: He fouled Smith off the ball as another Nugget hit a jumper. He missed an open corner three. He ran off the three line and fed Lamar for an And-1. He drained a wide open corner three off the Kobe drive and dish at the end of the half. Second Half: He did not play.

Farmar -- -- Limited action from Farmar. He got some minutes against Carter in the first half. Brown was matched up with Billups in that second half when Fisher got into foul trouble. The Nuggets never took him off the court, so after Phil gave Brown a blip of a rest, he put him back in to start the fourth at lead guard. Some nice D by Farmar in that brief stint against Billups. Offensively, he missed a couple chucks from three, but score off an offensive board in the paint. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 1 board and no fouls in 7 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He grabbed an offensive board and hit a hanging layup with his left in the lane. He bricked a three on a kickout. He missed an open early offense three. Second Half: Good D on Billups on iso at the end of the third, he then switched on to Smith and forced a tough miss.

Phil -- -- The Lakers trailed 11-6, Pau not getting a shot for the first 5 minutes before a timeout came... The Lakers went on a 8-0 run out of that timeout, Drew getting a couple dunks... The score was tied 25-25 after the first quarter... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup... No Brown. Phil went right to Fisher after Farmar got his run... Ariza picked up three fouls and had to sit... Our help D scheme was getting picked apart all half with the overload exposed against Melo... Phil brought in Sasha in the final possession of the half and he drained a corner three off the Kobe drive and dish... The two teams played even in the first half, tied up 56-56. The Nuggets shot 47.6 percent (20-42) and had 8 offensive boards. The Lakers shot 46.8 percent (22-47, 1-8 from three) and had 9 offensive boards. The Lakers made 11-16 FTs, the Nuggets 12-18... The Nuggets extended to a 7-point lead, winning the first 5 minutes of the half. The Lakers struggled to get the ball into the post around fronting defenders. They didn't go to their counters... Phil brought in Lamar and Brown for Fisher and Bynum who had foul issues midway through the third quarter. Both Brown and LO came up with big plays to bring the Lakers back even... He subbed out Brown for Farmar briefly to end the quarter... The two teams played even again, tied 76-76 going into the fourth. The Lakers were out-rebounded 5-0 on the offensive glass in the third... Guys with 4 fouls: Nene, Bynum, Fisher... The Lakers needed to get a good start to a quarter for once in this game... "This one looks like it's going to go right down to the stretch," Phil said... Kobe didn't want to come out. Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Kobe, Brown lineup. Three Laker impact players and a sparkplug in Brown. Melo started on the bench. The Lakers kept the Nuggets scoreless for the first 4 minutes and finally got out to an early quarter lead... Great D in that stretch. The Lakers then worked the high screen to space the floor to get some interior scores... The Lakers were shooting FTs at the 6:35 mark for the rest of the fourth. They struggled to take advantage of it... He sat Brown with 4 minutes left, up by 6. The Lakers maintained their lead...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Check out the roster on the key 11-0 run to start the fourth. Three impact ballers on the court, plus Brown. Much better than the 1-impact-player head-scratcher lineups Phil has paid the price with a couple of times.

[LAmarODom420]

thanks DB...always look forward to your work...first!

[Reilec142002]

First? Another nice job tonight.

Edit: Nope, second.

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Great gutsy win by the Lakers. The 4th quarter was lock down, the type of effort the Lakers will need the entire game Friday in Denver. PJ needs to give more burn to Shannon Brown, and exploit the advantages the Lakers have over Denver.

Thanks for the recap DB!

11 down, 5 wins to go.
_________________
"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]

what? there are already multiple replies? I was staying up so I could be first I hate that "Is the NBA Rigged" thread. I read the latest post for 20 seconds, get back to the Lounge and find people already posting in DB's thoughts and ratings

Thanks DB

[ReaListik]

Incredible win tonight. I'm so glad they won. We absolutely need everyone to step up and look to make the smart plays on Friday. Odom had a huge game tonight and needs to step up like that again on Friday. Gasol needs to continue to be as efficient and effective as he's been in the post on Friday as well.

This is the prime opportunity to go in there and defeat them on their own home court to end this series. We can do this, and finally for those of us who still have a grudge against the Pistons of 2004, we can at least get some revenge on Chauncey Billups finally.

This is it, it's time to cut off the life support of Denver.
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"We are the goodest." - Shaq ESPN interview

[Dr. Laker]

Good job, DB, but Luke has to offer some kind of resistance against Melo on D. He was pathetic.
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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".

[City_Dawg]

Im really starting to get tired of Billups. This dude is ALWAYS trying to sell calls, its pathetic. He even tried to sell a call on a corner three late in the game, fell down like a (bleep) but clanked the shot. In fact, im sure thats why the nuggets had so many TOs in the fourth. Billups is trying to sell fouls instead of making plays

Losing respect for the guy fast.

Thanks DB
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*sighs*

!...

[mhan00]

someone remind andrew bynum he's 7' 290 and that he should grab some freaking boards!

great win. beautiful defense to start the 4th, just shut down the nuggets every which way. we need to come out with that energy in the next game and try to rip the heart out of them.

[chilake24]

so happy for lamar. really love this guy,but feel he is too nice most of the time in ball games

[AllorNothing]

Fisher missing some shots and bad passes in the second quarter really killed our momentum. If he had played a cleaner game, this might have been over at least earlier.

Fisher just can't make a good entry pass to the post.

[mike_dee23]

Perfect role for Sasha right now. Let him knock down a shot here and there and sooner or later he'll be ready for extended minutes. Smith is too athletic for him anyway.
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MTFBWYA

[8750]

thanks, DB
it's very easy, at the end... you put on the floor a defensive pg, so you can defend one on one, don't need always to overhelp and your big men can stay in the middle... and suddendly your opponents don't find anymore easy rebounds and shots...
same thing with kobe as playmaker, playing some high p&r: you finally have a dynamic offense where everything flows...

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB - Thanks for the write-up! Could you share what "Legs" was talking about on ESPN where the Lakers were 'zoning up" with the two bigs (Pau & LO/Bynum) in the paint area to guard against drives to the paint? When the Lakers were actually defending the paint while Shannon was locking down Billups - the Lakers played great D (as shared by Kobe during the after-game interviews).

[RhodyRay]

Great game by the Lakers after another slow start. Can't afford to start slow in Denver. Need more of the same from Odom, more of Bynum, a lot more from Fisher and Sasha. Any combo of these guys stepping up and Lakers move on to the finals. Hopefully the Lakers kill the wounded dog quickly.
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Let them HATE so long as they FEAR!

[Corto Maltese]

Lakers need to come out and hit them hard in game 6. Don't give Denver any confidence.

[DancingBarry]

[chino]

Still I didn't like the fact the Lakers didn't search Gasol more...I loved the game, but whenever Gasol gets touches, good things happen, and they should look even more for him!!!
But loved to see Odom 4th quarter, Gasol D was spectacular, Kobe was just Kobe, and all the team was clicking!!!

LET'S GO LAKERS!!!!
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Excuse me for my bad english.
Portuguese Lakers Fan!

[Sage_10]

Big game by LO. We need this from him 5 more times this post season.
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[NYLakerFan]

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks again DB!

On my way to work yesterday I had an errand to run so I parked, looked around, and what did I see? A very clean, blue 427 Nova. It's windows were in perfect condition, not one sign of having been busted out as you described. That was an omen if I ever saw one.

Huge props to Shannon Brown and Lamar. AND to Kobe for recognizing the power of passing it down low over and over and over against these guys.

[yanyon]

great write up DB, thanks for the hard work.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

SHANNON AND L.O.!!!
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[Rick12322]

I haven't seen a lock down pt like Shannon since Tyronne Lue.