Lakers Trim Nuggets: Bryant Goes Off for 49!

If the Lakers have one major flaw, it’s not having the ability or perhaps the desire to close teams out. It might just be that they have an overly acute flair for the dramatic.

In a regular season game on March 18^th they were leading the Mavericks by 25 points in the first half and let them back in the game. The Lakers barely won 102-100. In the last week of the regular season, they were leading the Hornet by 30 in the first half and 20 at halftime. They let them back in the game and just won by three points, 107-104.

The same defect has been painfully obvious during their first round series with the Denver Nuggets. In Game 1, the Lakers couldn’t expand on a 10-point first quarter lead and found themselves down by seven points in the second quarter. After building a 19-point third quarter lead, the Lakers immediately gave 10 points back to the Nuggets at the start of the fourth quarter.

In Game 2 the Lakers had a 59-49 halftime lead, but again they let the Nuggets back in the game and gave away the lead at 68-67. Although the Lakers regained the lead, they really weren’t in command until the Nuggets self-destructed out of frustration midway through the final period giving the Lakers a 122-107 victory.

With 5:47 left and the Lakers up 101-94, Kenyon Martin fouled out of the game. At 5:39, J.R. Smith got a technical foul and two seconds later Allan Iverson was called for another one. Kobe Bryant made both free throws and, while Denver imploded, Bryant went off, scoring 19 points in the final seven minutes to put the game out of reach.

Bryant led all scorers with 49 points (one point off his playoff high) and 10 assists. Twenty of his points came in the first quarter, which ended with a 33-32 Lakers lead. Bryant shot 8 for 10 in the quarter against the Nuggets man-to-man defense. He became primarily a facilitator when the Nuggets switched back to a zone defense, paying extra attention to Bryant. He finished the half with 25 points.

Luke Walton and Pau Gasol each had 18 points. Gasol also had 10 rebounds. In foul trouble most of the game, Lamar Odom finished with just 4 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists.

Walton scored 10 of his points during a 22-11 Lakers run right after Denver took the lead at 68-67. Bryant had 4 assists during that run to end the third period with the Lakers ahead 89-79.

Allan Iverson was high scorer for the Nuggets with 31 points. Carmelo Anthony had 23, and J.R. Smith ended with his playoff high of 21 points.

But the problem remains for the Lakers.

Against a more disciplined team that doesn’t lose their composure like the Nuggets do, their lack of the killer instinct could kill any hopes the Lakers have of winning the Western Conference let alone the NBA Championship.

Like the Nuggets, the Lakers have a composure problem. It happens whenever an opponent throws a zone defense at them. The Lakers hurry their shots, take wild three-pointers. They do just about everything but try to penetrate the zone, which is what they must do if they expect to advance deep into the playoffs.