NBA:  the PLAYOFFS

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NBA:   THINKING last week that the Denver Nuggets could lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in a first game of this year’s NBA Western Conference/first-round playoffs wasn’t by any means an irrational expectation. But an L.A. Lakers win of 103 to the Nuggets 88 would have seemed illogical, for the Nuggets had beat the L.A. Lakers during the 2011/12 season and when they lost to them it was by fewer points. Moreover, the Nuggets finished the regular season appearing to be a better team than when they had faced the Lakers earlier in the year, capable of taking them down in their first post-season contest.

On Sunday, the Lakers seemed to be the Denver Nuggets more than they were the usual Lakers, a team reflecting the values of teamwork more than the dominant star power usually put forth in a post-season match by Lakers guard, Kobe Bryant, and like the Nuggets at a much higher level, which can be taken two ways when factoring in the Lakers seven-footers, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, the latter a master of the “borderline block,” the kind that may or not have been illegal, or as Nuggets head coach, George Karl, might say, “the illegal block looking legal.” Anyway, like the Nuggets in previous games, the Lakers were passing patiently, and assisting, rebounding, blocking, they were “all hands on deck,” and yet Bryant managed to get in his 30+ points.

NBA post-season games are often about teams attacking each other’s known strengths and vulnerabilities with new ways and means, each now having better knowledge of the other’s limits from studying them during final challeneges of the regualr season. For example, key strengths belonging to the Lakers have become power, height and flexibility for the defense, and more accurate shooting within and outside the paint from other than the team's guards. Drawbacks have been the Lakers lack of speed compared with several other franchises, among them, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Nuggets. As to Nuggets strengths, the team has relied heavily on lightning fast plays leading to shots inside the paint (when least expected), on hard and swift passing every which direction for field goals from the corners, plus assists and exploitation of steal opportunities.

As to Nuggets vulnerabilities, it’s been an improving defense that still needs more verticality and in-your-face domination that forces opposing players to pass weakly and make poor shots. Against the Nuggets on Sunday, the Lakers managed 64 points in the paint, a sign of effective penetration in spite of the Nuggets double-teaming faster than in other losses to the Lakers.

A comparison of defenses shows the Lakers having accrued 15 blocks, the Nuggets only four. The Lakers netted seven three-point attempts, the Nuggets, four, the Lakers three-pointers accounting for more than half the deficit that the Nuggets lost by.

In game one/round one of the playoffs, the Lakers not only attacked the Nuggets number one vulnerability, it’s defense; they went after the Nuggets best offense asset, preventing Nuggets guard and high scorer, Ty Lawson, from being the rolling thunder that he’d been throughout the regular season. Lawson’s regular season 19 ppg average was mocked by his achieving less than 10 points on Sunday. The only Nuggets player stepping up for a high number of points was forward, Danilo Gallinari, scoring 19. Andre Miller’s 12 points and seven assists were diminished by his four fouls. Al Harrington finished with 10 points, having made two three-pointers, this within 22 minutes of play. Corey Brewer also completed two three pointers, accruing 11 points during 23 minutes of play.

Of course, one can’t help but wonder what the first Nuggets/Lakers game would have been without the Lakers giant freight train booming on and off the tracks, a.k.a., Andrew Bynum. He recorded 10 of the Lakers 15 blocks. Breaking it all down, from the Lakers high string of blocks and the Nuggets Ty Lawson unable to hustle past rows of timber and Bryant scoring high, the Denver team caved .  .  .  To all this, a fan wrote, “A famous heavyweight boxer once took a terrible beating from a challenger in the first round of a championship bout. Back in his corner, his manager said, ‘What’s wrong with you, are you trying to lose the match?’ The fighter responded, ‘I just wanted to see what the other guy had to give.’ In the second round, the heavyweight won the bout via TKO.” If that fan is referring to the Nuggets of Sunday afternoon, our response is, “The Nuggets are not tricksters in that manner, they are an extremely resilient team and they have come back immediately from worse defeats and have won.” Tonight, it’s game two of what could be a seven game series ending May 12.

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