With Carmelo Anthony sick and off to an icy start, the Denver Nuggets shouldn’t have had a chance tonight. But Chauncey Billups (loved that drive in the highlights) and J.R. Smith stepped up and led the team to a 120-101 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers and even the Western Conference Finals at two games apiece.
The entire team played well as the Nuggets outscored the Lakers in every quarter. The Birdman was fantastic, and he, Nene, and K-Mart completely dominated the boards against an overmatched Lakers front line. Dahntay Jones had a sweet breakaway windmill dunk and a wonderful make-it-look-like-an-accident trip of Kobe Bryant. Carmelo came in and did his thing in the fourth quarter, forcing his way to the line when they needed to keep the lead up. And the fans were outstanding; one of the “no means no” chants came through crystal-clear on TV. You know the league’s not happy about that.
Really, the only complaint Nuggets fans can have is about that stretch in the fourth quarter where the clock seemed to move backwards and the Lakers got free throw after free throw. But the next time I looked up J.R. was sinking threes and Denver was cruising to an easy win. Well, that and, as Stuart Scott reports, Bryant scoring the most points ever in the first four games of a conference finals. That part’s rough.
The Lakers, for their part, continued not to go to Pau Gasol that much and still rely on Kobe to do everything. Does anyone else on that team have another gear? And what is up with Phil Jackson? He had one of the most bizarre nights I’ve seen from a coach in a while. First was Kobe and Gasol sitting on the bench for so long in the fourth quarter. Once Kobe came in, he hit a few shots in a row. The Nuggets had a big lead and were in Morey Rule territory with plenty of time left, but you never know what Bryant’s capable of, especially if he’s going to play several more minutes anyway. Jackson also pulled that ridiculous move where he didn’t sub anyone in for Luke Walton once he fouled out. I don’t know what that was about because it looked like a pretty clear foul to me. The real question is why Jackson had Luke on Carmelo in the first place.
Anyway, the Nuggets go back to L.A., where they’ll have to win at least Wednesday (7 Mountain, ESPN) or Sunday to stay alive. How do you like their odds?
Comments
Game 5 is pivotal, but not a must-win. Still, I will feel a lot better about our chances in the series if we win Game 5, which I am starting to think is a real possibility if we stay hungry.
I thought it was really weird that Jackson didn't have Kobe and Gasol in at the beginning of the fourth quarter too. Was he worried that Kobe was going to run out of gas later in the series? Kobe does usually sit out the first couple of minutes of the fourth quarter, but I don't think he came back in until around the 7 minute mark.
I'm not sure how I felt about Jones tripping Kobe. The Laker-hater in me was thrilled, but I also don't want to see the Nuggets or Jones labeled as a dirty player.
I think getting the 3-2 lead is pretty critical, but hey, at least we saw how the Nuggets respond to adversity last night.
I feel like Jackson was almost conceding the game with his subs, which might have been the smart thing to do. He has to know Kobe's all they've got.
Like I said on Twitter, Jones' play may have been dirty, but it wasn't anywhere near as dirty as Derek Fisher's open-field tackle in the Houston series.
If we go to game seven I won't have any finger nails left!
LT
ok, maybe it's not that simple, but damnit nuggets put these sissies away!