Lakers-Nuggets Game Two, First Half: Where A Late Alarm Clock Happens
One of the reasons why I haven't been a big believer in this Nuggets team -- I picked the Bugs to beat them in the first round, and thought the Mavs would last longer, but still lose, in the second -- is that I just couldn't shake the idea they were, well, the Nuggets. For the first time in the playoffs tonight, that was correct.
And then it wasn't.
The first quarter shows the Nuggets looking more like their team of old -- bad body language, technical fouls, defensive lapses on their own glass and the sense they weren't really into it.
The Lakers also got some pretty bad calls to go their way, and Chauncey Billups continued his bizarre and unexpected trouble at the free throw line.
A few threes from bench players made the game closer than it looked, and a Sasha Vujacic miss in transition off a buzzer turnover kept it from seeming worse. If the vibe of this game didn't change soon, the Lakers would have won by 20 or more, especially if Carmelo Anthony continues to look ordinary. At that point the Lakers were up 31-23.
The second quarter began with bench players and a careless Nuggets turnover and non-board. The Lakers already had six offensive boards. The game got predictably sloppy with the shock troops, and Vujacic looked particularly inept.
Pau Gasol was the best player on the floor during this stretch, but Linas Kleiza made another three to keep the game close, and then the game got out of hand with good Laker passing which led to high percentage shooting, utterly flat Denver possessions and a quick expansion of the lead to 14.
It didn't even seem as if the Nuggets were trying.
"How many times have we started off kind of soft and uninvolved?" Karl said to his team. Do you really need to say anything else about why George doesn't have a ring?
'Melo picked it up a bit to get the game a little closer, and rattled off 10 points of his own, but the Nuggets' defense was just non-existent, so it's just trading points for the most part.
In 20 minutes, Kenyon Martin had no rebounds and 'Melo has all of one on defense. After an Anthony Carter mishap the defense gives up a 50-foot pass to Andrew Bynum who was alone under the rim, for the old-school three.
I haven't seen this Nuggets team in a while. I thought Billups made this team go away?
The Nugs pick it up a bit and another Kleiza three cut the deficit to eight, and parachute defense on Billups leads to another open 3, and voila -- an 8-0 run that cuts it to 5, despite the fact the Nugs are still jawing at the stripes every chance they get.
Kleiza's game is really what kept them in the game. Two Billups' makes cut it to three, and Gasol picked up his second over the back on an o-board attempt, and now it's the Lakers with ref issues. Another Kleiza make cut it to one, amazingly. Odom makes from 20 on a fairly weak possession.
Billups goes to the rack for no call as the Nuggets ignored Anthony. Billups then went Globetrotter on the inbounds by bouncing it off Bryant's back and getting the layup.
That made it a 14-2 run to close the half, and Kobe's less than happy in his Lemur-mandated interview. They didn't ask him about that last confetti-bucket play. Lakers 55, Nuggets 54, and it was anyone's game again. It was hard to know what to make of the game at that point.
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