Lakers-Nuggets Preview

By ARNIE STAPLETON
Posted May 05 2012 6:42PM

DENVER (AP) Andrew Bynum is promising he'll be on time and on target Sunday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers center acknowledged Saturday that he wasn't ready for Game 3 at Denver, when he was held scoreless in the first half of a 99-84 loss to the youthful Nuggets.

Bynum has much more responsibility in the L.A.'s offense this season, so the Lakers' 7-foot center works long and hard before games on his footwork and balance.

He said he had to cut short that pregame preparation Friday night after arriving late to the arena.

"Yesterday we did a little bit of it, but like I said, I got there a little late, so I didn't have as much time as I needed," Bynum said.

"For what it's worth, I'm going to go and be ready for tomorrow's game," he added.

Bynum didn't say what led to his tardiness, but he also acknowledged he was bothered by the altitude as the Nuggets raced out to a 24-point lead on their way to a 55-39 halftime advantage.

Befuddled by Denver's double teams, Bynum took just three shots in the first half before bouncing back to score 18 points and pull down a dozen rebounds. However, he and Pau Gasol were outrebounded by Denver's young duo of Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee 30-19.

Asked Saturday how the Nuggets were able to take him out of his game in the first half, Bynum said, "I took myself out," adding he was "maybe just not ready to play."

He said he'll get to the Pepsi Center "a little early, probably" Sunday night and "get adjusted to the altitude prior to the game."

Although Bynum was 5 for 8 from the floor and 8 of 8 from the stripe in the second half, his poor performance in the first half helped put the Lakers in a hole they couldn't climb out of.

"You hope at this time of the season everyone who steps on the floor is ready," said Lakers coach Mike Brown, who put Bynum's slow start among a long list of things that frustrated him.

Asked if Bynum drives him crazy, Brown said, "I think at one point or another everybody on the team drives me crazy just like I'm sure I drive them crazy."

With so much of the offense running through Bynum now, it was surprising to hear him admit he was tardy and not ready for a playoff game.

"He's extremely open and honest with you guys," Kobe Bryant told a group of reporters gathered at the team hotel Saturday. "I'm sure you guys appreciate that."

Bryant said he wasn't angered by Bynum's admission.

"No, the first step to improving as a player is admitting to yourself that you've done something wrong and (knowing) how to correct that," Bryant said. "I do the same thing, too. I just don't tell you guys."

But not being ready for a playoff game?

"No, I'm always ready. I'm always ready," Bryant said. "But there's some mistakes that I make" that he doesn't share with the public.

Pressed if he thought it was disconcerting to hear that Bynum wasn't ready for a playoff game, Bryant said: "Yeah, I mean, hopefully you guys will stick it to him good enough to where it sinks in for him."

Bryant said Bynum is still learning how to handle himself in the playoffs while being targeted with a steady diet of double teams.

"It's a process for him because he's never had to see these types of coverages in the postseason, teams mix up coverages, mix up looks," Bryant said. "I think it's good for him. I try to throw the ball into him as much as I can so he can constantly work on that, get better at it. If we're fortunate enough to advance to the next rounds, he's going to be seeing a lot more of that, so it's important for him to really be efficient."

The Lakers never trailed in winning the first two games but they were powerless during a 28-2 spurt by the Nuggets in the first half Friday night that gave Denver a double-digit cushion.

Instead of limiting their stars minutes after that or conceding this one, the Lakers fought back and made a game of it, cutting the deficit to four points in the third quarter.

"I'm not a big fan of 20-point leads in the first half," Nuggets coach George Karl said, noting that teams with big early cushions tend to get lazy. "I'm kind of glad it turned out to be a hard game, at least a game where we had to make fourth-quarter plays.

"My speech to the team was sometime today you all got to stop being happy ... Because the fight we're going to have tomorrow is going to be harder."

And this time, Bynum promises to be ready from the start.

Notes: Karl was styling Saturday in a blue tie and orange blazer to go with white slacks and a striped white and orange shirt. He was dressed up for a cancer charity event but said there was no way he'd wear the ensemble on the sideline. ... Karl on JaVale McGee's 16-point, 15-rebound performance Friday night: "Oh, it's the best game I've ever seen him play. We don't see a lot of East Coast teams, but when the trade (with the Washington Wizards) was going on, we watched the films and we never saw that game."

Supporting casts lifts Lakers past Nuggets 92-88

By ARNIE STAPLETON
Posted May 07 2012 4:10AM

DENVER (AP) Crunch time for the Los Angeles Lakers usually belongs to Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol.

Not this time.

Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake put the dagger in the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, swishing 3-pointers in the final minute to lead the Lakers to a 92-88 comeback win that gave L.A. a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven first-round series.

The Lakers can wrap it up Tuesday night when the series shifts back to Southern California for Game 5.

Bryant (22 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and Bynum (19 points, seven boards and three blocks) had bounce-back games and Gasol came up with huge plays at both ends as the Lakers controlled the tempo by grabbing 19 offensive rebounds, stymieing the faster, younger Nuggets who blew them out in Game 3.

With the game tied in the final minute, however, it was the Lakers' supporting cast that iced it.

"They got the two 3s to go down at the end of the game," Nuggets coach George Karl said, "but conceptually what we're trying to do at the end of the game is not let Kobe, Bynum and Gasol beat you."

Instead, it was Sessions and Blake - after top reserve Jordan Hill sparked a comeback from a six-point halftime deficit with a double-double off the bench.

"Sessions has hit big 3s. Even when I was out he hit some big 3s to win games. He did it again tonight. I have confidence in him," Bryant said. "If you're observing the game in the third quarter, I hit Sessions for an open shot, Blake for an open shot and (Matt) Barnes for an open shot and they missed all three of them. George, being observant as he is, saw I was (ticked). I was and (he) didn't think I would trust them at the end of the game to knock down those shots, but they stepped up and knocked them down."

With the game tied at 86, Danilo Gallinari was covering Bryant when a hard screen from Gasol sent the Italian to the floor grabbing his throat. While Gallinari stayed down, Sessions' 3-pointer from just in front of the Nuggets bench put the Lakers ahead 89-86 with 48 seconds remaining.

"It was a tough pick, you've got to expect that in the playoffs," Gallinari said. "I've got to be ready and play defense. Unfortunately, they hit a big shot out of that."

Andre Miller was whistled for basket interference at the other end, and Bryant found Blake for a 3-pointer from the left corner with 18.9 seconds left for a six-point cushion, L.A.'s biggest of the night.

Sessions, whose acquisition from Cleveland this spring led to the trade of five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher, finished with 12 points, and Blake had 10.

"Those are tough shoes to fill because he had experience," Bryant said of Fisher, who's now with the Oklahoma City Thunder. "But you have to start somewhere. Fish and I started somewhere. ... This was the beginning for them."

Gallinari led the Nuggets with 20 points, and Miller had 15.

After torching the Lakers for 50 points combined in the previous two games, Ty Lawson was held to 11 points and Nuggets big men Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee weren't nearly as effective on offense or disruptive defensively as they were in Game 2, when they combined for 28 points and 30 rebounds.

Together, they had 14 points and 11 rebounds Sunday.

Bynum, who blamed his scoreless first half 48 hours earlier on failing to properly prepare in the pregame, was much more active early on, scoring 11 in the first half, which ended with the Lakers trailing 51-45.

The game was briefly delayed with 1:10 left in the first half when a female fan started walking across the court while the Nuggets were setting up a play. The woman walked several steps onto the court as Lawson brought the ball past halfcourt. Officials blew the whistle to stop the play and the woman was escorted away by security.

The woman, identified as 20-year-old Savannah McMillan-Christmas of Denver, was cited for trespassing.

Al Harrington scored nine points in his return to the Nuggets' lineup. He started out with a clear face mask protecting his nose that was broken Friday night by an inadvertent elbow from Bynum, but he ditched the mask in a matter of minutes.

Harrington missed his first six shots but then sank four straight, including a 3-pointer that put the Nuggets ahead 76-75 early in the fourth quarter.

This is the 11th time the Nuggets have faced a 3-1 deficit and they've never overcome such a deficit to win a series.

"Oh, it's going to be difficult, no question about it," said Arron Afflalo. "We have to get two on their home floor. Game 5 on their home floor would give some life to this series if we're able to win it."

Karl figures his young team has grown a lot over the last week and isn't ready to concede the loaded Lakers stand all that much taller than his hodgepodge of hustling ballers.

"I don't think it's an impossible challenge," Karl said. "I think it's a great challenge for this young team. For me, I've been blessed with having great runs in the playoffs and I think I probably have one or two more left in me in my lifetime. I'd like to see it come this year."

NOTES: Bryant got a handshake from Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey as he walked off the floor after the game. ... The Nuggets have lost 18 straight playoff games when scoring fewer than 90 points. ... Denver was 3 for 19 from long range, their fewest conversions and lowest percentage in a playoff game since April 30, 2007, when they went 2 for 16 against San Antonio. .. The starters for both teams combined to go 7-for-14 from the free throw line. ... The Lakers have never lost consecutive playoff games in Denver.

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Reach Arnie Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

Notebook: Lakers 92, Nuggets 88

Posted Monday May 7, 2012 2:10AM

By Michael Kelly, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Kobe Bryant got his points, but his biggest contribution came on a pass. Bryant scored 22 points but with the game in the balance he fed Steve Blake for an open 3-pointer with 40 seconds left that gave the Lakers a six-point lead and led them to a 92-88 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series on Sunday.

Andrew Bynum had 19 points and Pau Gasol had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who lead the series 3-1 heading back to Los Angeles.

Danilo Gallinari had 20 points and Andre Miller had 15 points off the bench for the Nuggets.

QUOTABLE: "He's done it for us in the past. Those moments don't scare him."
-- Bryant, on Blake's 3-pointer.

THE STAT: In Game 3 the Nuggets' tandem of JaVale McGee (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Kenneth Faried (12 points, 15 rebounds) dominated Los Angeles. The Lakers held them to a combined 14 points and 11 rebounds in Game 4.

TURNING POINT: With the game tied at 86, Gasol delivered a solid screen on Gallinari, who fell to the floor in pain. The ball swung around to Ramon Sessions, who drained a 3 to put the Lakers up for good. After an offensive goaltend on Miller, Blake drained another 3 to put the game away.

QUOTABLE II: "It was a tough pick, I just got hit on my throat, I felt a click and it clicked back. It was a tough pick, and you should expect that in the playoffs. I've got to be ready and play defense. Unfortunately they hit a big shot out of that."
-- Gallinari, on Gasol's screen.

THE STAT II: Bryant took just one free throw and missed it. Denver's starters were only 2-for-4 from the foul line.

HOT: Miller came into the game on fire. He scored 11 points in his first four minutes and went inside to get most of them. He was also aggressive on defense, helping to disrupt the rhythm of some of the Lakers guards.

NOT: The Nuggets in the first round. Denver has been to the playoffs nine straight years but is facing elimination for the eighth time. In those previous first-round exits the Nuggets have won a total of seven games.

QUOTABLE III: "Losing always gets old. Losing is not fun. I'm not unhappy with my team, I'm not happy with where we're at, but we still have a series to play. I don't think it's an impossible challenge. I've been blessed with runs in the playoffs and I think I have one or two left in me."
-- Nuggets coach George Karl

GOOD MOVE: Lakers coach Mike Brown stuck with forward Jordan Hill in the fourth quarter and he came through. After being held scoreless Friday, Hill finished with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The Lakers also slowed down Denver's running game by having their guards run back with Denver's big me, negating easy buckets, specifically McGee and Faried.

QUOTABLE IV: "They run very well, they're going to beat our bigs down the floor, so our smalls are going to have to help out or Faried and McGee are getting dunks. We just said if they throw the ball in the post, guard them. Make them shoot jumpers, don't back up and let them get to the rim."
-- Brown, on his team's transition defense

NOTABLE: A fan walked onto the court with 1:10 remaining in the first half. The woman appeared to be trying to say something to one of the players as Ty Lawson brought the ball upcourt. She was quickly escorted off the floor and out of the arena. ... The teams were both 39-for-86 from the field and finished with identical shooting percentages (45.3). ... The Lakers have never lost two straight playoff games in Denver.

UP NEXT: Game 5 Tuesday in Los Angeles.

• Lakers: Morris
• Nuggets: Chandler, Fernandez

• Lakers: --
• Nuggets: --

• Lead Changes: 18
• Times Tied: 16

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #36 David Jones, #57 Greg Willard, #55 Bill Kennedy
• Attendance: 19155
• Duration: 2:24