NBA PLAYOFFS: Denver L.A.
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“SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.
SPECIAL OLYMPICS SUMMER GAMES, COLORADO , June 2, @ UNC, Greeley , Colorado
35th Annual Rocky Mountain Senior Games, June 6 – 10, Greeley , Col.
970-350-9443; or: Sheri.Lobmeyer@greeleygov.com.
NBA: Rarely can speed alone put an NBA team ahead of an opponent by the end of a game’s first period, but add smarts and skill to speed and a team can make a real difference, even against a franchise that includes Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake. During game five of the Denver Nuggets/L.A. Lakers post-season series, the Nuggets began as if bulls chasing torero-wannabe’s in the narrow streets of Pamplona during that Spanish town’s annual fiesta, applying basketball wisdom (keeping away from the bigs and preventing Bryant not just from sinking more baskets than he had, but from passing to his go-to-guys). The Nuggets netted successfully enough to finish the quarter, 26-23.
In that first quarter, the Nuggets bested the Lakers in every major game category, including 10 successful field goals of 22 attempts, while the Lakers completed nine of 16. Add, six good Nuggets free throws of six attempted, the Lakers achieving but five for eight, plus 14 Nuggets rebounds vs. the Lakers 13. Include six Nuggets assists, the Lakers with four.
During the second quarter, the Nuggets completed nine field goals and two of five three-pointers, plus 11 rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block, the score at the half, Nuggets 49, Lakers, 43.
During the third quarter, the Nuggets 10 rebounds, six assists, 11 completed field goals and a three-pointer lifted the score to Nuggets, 76, Lakers, 65. Then in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets seemed to have peaked, beginning a downhill slide, going from a 15 point lead to a three point edge, where the team could have lost the game to Kobe Bryant’s sudden avalanche of points (by endgame, Bryant had scored 43). Were it not for the Nuggets Andre Miller and JaVale McGee defending and shooting well enough, the Nuggets 102-99 win against the Lakers could have been the reverse. Miller finished with 24 points, and McGee, 21 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. Five Nuggets players ended the game with double-digit points, the Lakers finished with three in that category.
From winning game five of its series vs. the Lakers, the Nuggets created three important outcomes. First, they weren’t sent over the cliff in the first round of the Western Conference finals---there would be a game six between the Nuggets and the Lakers, and maybe a game seven on Saturday, May 12, at Los Angeles
. . . and game six belonged to the Nuggets from the get-go. It was nearly 10 minutes into the first quarter before the Lakers were able to score, the Nuggets up by more than 12. They continued to dominate, finishing the game, 113-96. Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, who was almost invisible in game one and again in game five, was the Nuggets high scorer with 32 points (he completed five of six three pointers), the catalyst of a momentum that hadn’t let up as long as he was on the court. Because of that momentum, the Lakers were unable to keep from being at the effect of the Nuggets offense; they could not shield against the Nuggets except now and then. The Nuggets reflected relentless speed and accurate shooting in every quarter, none of the slowdown and inefficient shooting that often plagues the Nuggets during the last minutes of a fourth quarter, especially in post-season games versus the Lakers. Two Nuggets guards and a forward scored more than 15 points each (Lawson with 32, Corey Brewer 18, Kenneth Faried, 15 // Brewer’s 18 occurred within only 19 minutes of his being on the floor), the Lakers having only one shooter finishing above 15, Bryant---31. The Nuggets led in field goals, 47 over the Lakers 35, and in three pointers, 10 above the Lakers four.
Keys to the Nuggets game six win: (1) That same punishing “tigers out of the cage” start against the Lakers at the beginning of game five, executed faster and yet with greater control; (2) Less concern about imprisoning Bryant, meanwhile increased effort on keeping Gasol and Bynum from other than running up and down court, in effect, letting Bryant shoot to a minimum relative to his possible 40 or more (he had 31 points by endgame, but he had little help from Gasol and Bynum for more than that); (3) Avoiding the Lakers’ bigs by forcing direct breakthroughs into the paint, seeking ways around them; (4) Sustaining momentum through rebounding, highly key to any win.
All this said, the Lakers hadn’t managed a 3-1 advantage in this series by being fragile and of mediocre skill-sets---game seven won’t be an easy ride for either team.
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