Lakers look to solve altitude problem in Game 3

DENVER -- Just hearing the words "The Garden," whether it's in New York or Boston, brings to mind a historically-proven home-court advantage. "The Q" in Cleveland was the toughest place to play in the regular season. Utah and Portland have reputations as difficult places for a road team to win a game.

But the only guaranteed out for the home team during the 2009 postseason is in Denver at the Pepsi Center (a.k.a. "The Can"), where the Nuggets are 6-0, winning by a laughable margin of 16.5 points per game.

Denver hasn't lost on its home court for 16 games, in fact, dating back to a two-point loss to Houston on March 9. The last time the two teams tipped off at The Can, L.A.'s six-game winning streak ended with a 90-79 loss in which the Lakers shot just 29.8 percent from the field

"It looks good, we love it," J.R. Smith said after Game 2 about the series shifting to Denver tied 1-1 after the Nuggets already stole the Lakers' home-court edge before breaking out their own mile-high handicap. "Guys are running back here cheering that we're going back to Denver. We think we have the best home fans there. So just to go home and play in front of them, Lakers get to be up on that nice altitude we got so it's different."

In a series that is statistically as tight as can be through the first two games -- the overall score is 209-208 in Denver's favor, Carmelo Anthony has 73 points to Kobe Bryant's 72, Nene is shooting 55.6 percent from the field to Pau Gasol's 55.5 -- the added 5,280 feet could make all the difference.

"It's tough for me to run up and down that court in the altitude and I'm there all year long," Anthony said. "But it's tough for anybody coming here. But it's a factor. It is a factor being 5280, that's tough for anybody."

Gasol agreed the elevation does play a role, but added that the team's energy it gets from feeding off the crowd is what really makes the difference.

"You feel [the altitude] more in the beginning than anything and probably you feel it more in Game 3 than in Game 4 because your body gets used to it," Gasol said. "They play with a lot of energy there. They're used to the altitude there. The crowd is obviously really into it, they're really excited to be in the conference finals after so many, so many years so you can feel that."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson dismisses any notion of Denver having an altitude advantage.

"I think they're affected by it, but it's not a factor that's going to change the outcome of the game," Jackson said. "They've been [in Los Angeles] for four-five days, they're going to be affected too. Your body just changes I think in a period of 36 or 48 hours."

Jackson mentioned wanting his team to adjust from its Game 2 loss on the defensive end by keeping Denver off the foul line but still playing physical and by "dramatizing" its spacing as the main offensive adjustment.

He also wants the team to just be more conscientious while playing on the road.

"You definitely know that you're going to have to play a tighter game turnover wise," Jackson said. "You can't be quite as loose. Three-point shots, you can't get involved in a 25-attempt three-point game. Those type of things you have to be pretty tight with."

Kobe Bryant, who called the Lakers the best road team in the NBA after Game 2, despite his team's 2-3 road record in the Playoffs, pointed to the fact that L.A. left Staples Center tied 1-1 in the second round and won its first away game in Houston to steal home-court advantage right back as an example of why his team isn't worried.

"It's always been a tough place to play," Bryant said. "They had a great home record last season, too. This year is no different."

Said Gasol: "Hopefully we'll come out really hard, really aggressive executing and doing what we're supposed to do taking the crowd out of the game early if we can and give ourselves a chance to win."

If the Lakers don't come out hard, and fall down 2-1 in the process, then any chance of them winning the series and advancing to The Finals really becomes up in the air.

NBA.com's Dave McMenamin will be covering the Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Nuggets. If you have a question or comment for him, send him an e-mail. You can also follow him on Twitter.