Lakers Minds Already On Thunder, May Deflate at Denver Altitude
After a tough loss to the Denver Nuggets, 102-99, it was just a simple message on the Lakers whiteboard to pack for three games. The message was short; its content was simple. The Los Angeles Lakers will be heading straight to Oklahoma City. Do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars.
The Nuggets are beneath the Los Angeles Lakers. The three best players in the series are all on the Lakers side, as well as one of the best five players in the league in Kobe Bryant. A rag-tag group led by Ty Lawson, Javale McGee and Andre Miller are supposed to lie down and let the Lakers march down south for competition from a real team. The Lakers would like nothing more than to get out of Denver.
For the Nuggets, they may just be too young to know better. With Andre Miller serving as the only player who has played a lot of playoff basketball with the Denver Nuggets, and with fresh blood in Kenneth Faried, Javale McGee and Ty Lawson, the storybook “Lakers are NBA gods,” plotline still may not come true.
Mike Brown’s arrogance in this series probably extended it. With the team ready to close out the Nuggets in game 5, Brown did not rope in his young center Andrew Bynum’s comments about close-out games being easy. The result was a relaxed Bynum hardly making a dent in the series, while Pau Gasol tried to fill the void and only got a whole lot of McGee soaring over him. Kobe finally decided to try and win it by himself, only to hold the ball too long and not give the Lakers other opportunities to tie the game.
It is very likely that the Nuggets will not be able run the Lakers back to L.A. tonight, but the Lake Show is only 1 and a half point favorites. If the Nuggets can find their transition game and rebound, then it’s all on the table Saturday night in game seven. If so, maybe the Nuggets can make the Lakers’ whiteboard read, “Clean out your lockers tomorrow.”
Update: Kobe Bryant is a game time decision with a stomach ailment.
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