NBA PLAYOFFS: Nuggets & Lakers, Game 4  

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NBA:   COMING up with all sorts of “what if this happened” and “if only that had occurred” wouldn’t change the fact that a preferred team is down by three in the first round of the NBA playoffs---best to look at what was and try to make sense of it.  .  .  Seen on Sunday night during the Denver Nuggets/Los Angeles Lakers fourth meet of a first round/post-season series was first-half Nuggets dominance, after which the Nuggets defense grew clumsy and its offense, while fast with the basketball and getting in place for points, lost shooting efficiency, too many of its two- and three-pointer attempts wasted. The Lakers became stronger then, exploiting newfound weaknesses in the Nuggets game. But the Nuggets recovered some, exchanging leads with the Lakers (point/counterpoint). Still, the Nuggets couldn’t close skillfully in the game’s final moments, Lakers finishing with 92, Nuggets, 88.  .  .  Tonight, at L.A., the Nuggets will try to win game five. If they do win game five, it’ll be back to Denver, the Nuggets hoping to set up a seven-game series by winning game six.

Disappointing for the Nuggets and their fans is that game four was one of those playoff competitions when the losing team was often the winning team and seemed to have victory nearly in tow. The Nuggets led the Lakers at the end of the first period and at the half, and at the end of the third period although not by as much as in the first two periods. The quality of effort by the Nuggets in the game’s final minutes was not the better playmaking and defense exhibited earlier, the last good moment for the Nuggets occurring under two minutes during the fourth Q when Nuggets forward, Danilo Gallinari, scored a two-pointer that tied the game, 86-86. Then, with less than a minute to go, Lakers guard, Ramon Sessions, delivered a three-pointer, score 89-86, Lakers ahead. Counter-moves from the Nuggets failed to produce points. From the shadows of fatigue, Lakers guard, Kobe Bryant, passed the ball to L.A. guard, Steve Blake, who scored a three-pointer with less than 20 seconds before endgame.

How did the Lakers endure and leap ahead? Mostly by containing Nuggets guard, Ty Lawson, who shot for only 11 points, and by exploiting their height for super rebounding (L.A. had twice the number of successful rebounds over the Nuggets---14-7). As expected, Bryant was the team’s high scorer with 22 points, but five other Lakers players scored in double-digits while only three Nuggets players hit double-digits. Too, the Lakers found space for three successful three-pointers out of six attempts. The Nuggets managed only one successful three-pointer from five attempts. The Nuggets led the Lakers in steals, blocks and free throws, and came close to the Lakers re. number of assists, but it’s points that purchase victory and the more rebounds achieved the more the opportunities for scoring.

Yet a Nuggets comeback extending the series is possible, requiring the Denver team to work around the Lakers height and develop a long string of rebounds, meanwhile improving shooting accuracy over what was seen in the last Q of game four, with guard Lawson evading the Lakers as he had in game three.

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