Denver Nuggets 120-101 LA Lakers: No Need For Melo in Nuggets Equalizer

It may be Memorial Day, but the Los Angeles Lakers' performance might as well be branded with a damnatio memoriae instead.

Especially the cold conclusion that they could not shoot their way out of a wet paper bag.

On a day where Carmelo Anthony's services weren't even needed, the Denver Nuggets tied the 2009 NBA Western Conference Finals 2-2 with a 120-101 victory at the Pepsi Center.

Ouch.

Game 5 Wednesday at Staples Center couldn't come any sooner for LA.

Three of the offensive weapons for the Lakers were nowhere to be seen; Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, and Derek Fisher. They combined for only 13 points.

And the lack of bench productivity from Phil Jackson's men just compounded a terrible defensive performance for the visitors in the Mile High City, with 10 turnovers to show for it.

Zero-point production from Luke Walton along with three points from Shannon Brown and six from Sasha Vujacic paled in comparison with the clutch shooting of Linas Kleiza (10 points) and JR Smith (24 points, with four 3-pointers).

Offensively for the Lakers, Kobe Bryant tallied 34, Andrew Bynum 14, and Pau Gasol 21 to go with 10 rebounds.

All five starters for the Nuggets scored in double figures. Chauncey Billups led the way with 24, Nene added 14, Anthony 15, Dahntay Jones 12, and Kenyon Martin 13.

Denver outrebounded Los Angeles 58-40 and were clutch from the charity stripe, shooting 75.5% (37 for 49) against the Lakers' 68.6% percentage (24 for 35).

If fans in LA-LA Land are wondering about the possibility of this going to a Game 7 a la Houston Rockets, they should ponder it now following this dismal effort in Game 4.