Lakers Gameday | 04/28/08 | Lakers 107, Nuggets 101 (Lakers Win Series 4-0)
Lakers breeze past Nuggets in four games, await Jazz-Rockets winner DENVER (AP) -- No surrender on this night. No matter, the Los Angeles Lakers dispatched the tempestuous Denver Nuggets anyway. Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 31 points over the final 5½ minutes Monday night, leading the Lakers to a 107-101 victory over the Nuggets and a sweep of their first-round series. Pau Gasol added 21 points in the Lakers' first sweep of a playoff series since whitewashing New Jersey in the 2002 NBA finals, the last time they won it all. The Nuggets became the first 50-win team to ever be swept in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers will meet the winner of the Utah-Houston series, which the Jazz lead 3-1, in the Western Conference semifinals. The Nuggets won 50 games this season for the first time in two decades, and they did it in the power-packed Western Conference. But they were no match for the top-seeded Lakers, who are 25-5 with Gasol in the lineup. Bryant took over in the waning minutes, scoring nine straight points in every way -- a turnaround jumper, a 3-pointer, a driving layup and a 15-foot floater -- to give the Lakers a 97-96 lead. When Luke Walton made a wide-open 3 from the right corner, the Lakers went ahead 100-96 with 2:37 left, and Denver's Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony soon fouled out. Bryant made three free throws and a jumper after that. Anthony accused his team of quitting in Game 3 and he insisted he wasn't going to let that happen Monday night. He was right. The Nuggets didn't lay down, even when they fell behind by 13 points in the first half. They stormed back to make it a seesaw game in the second half. But again, Los Angeles had the answers and sent the Nuggets to their first-ever sweep in a seven-game series. Anthony fouled out with 1:19 left and Bryant made one free throw for a 101-96 lead. After Nene's slam dunk, Bryant's running bank shot make it 103-98. Marcus Camby's first points since the series shifted to Denver came on a 3-pointer from the left corner with 33 seconds left, cutting the Lakers' lead to 103-101, but Gasol maneuvered underneath for a dunk, and Bryant added two free throws with 18 seconds left to cap the scoring. Lamar Odom had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Los Angeles and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 12 points. J.R. Smith led the Nuggets with 26 points, while Allen Iverson had 22 and Anthony 21. The Nuggets were bounced in the first round for the fifth straight season -- only this time, they didn't even win their customary one game, suffering their first sweep since San Antonio beat them 3-0 in 1995, when the first round was best-of-five. The Nuggets couldn't keep Los Angeles out of the lane for easy layups and dunks and they made the silly mistakes that the Lakers avoided, like the missed dunks by Nene and Anthony, who blew an alley-oop rim-rattler that bounced out of bounds at halfcourt in the third quarter. Anthony trotted back downcourt, laughing all the way. Moments later, he picked up his fourth foul. It looked like the Nuggets were ready to surrender for the summer. Then, out of nowhere, they made a game of it, taking their first lead of the night on Linas Kleiza's step-back 11-footer that put Denver ahead 73-71, igniting the crowd. The Lakers righted themselves and took a 79-77 lead into the back-and-forth fourth quarter. Gasol sent the Lakers to their locker room up 64-54 at halftime when he made a difficult layup between two defenders at the buzzer. In the first quarter, Gasol drove the lane for a dunk while Anthony watched from the lane like he was awaiting a free throw. Another time, Gasol slammed home a dunk while Camby lay on the floor after what he thought was a foul and the officials saw as a flop. After missing two dozen shots in the paint in their 102-84 loss in Game 3, the Nuggets ditched their off-day practice and watched 10 minutes of film and listened to motivational speeches from their coaches while the Lakers went through a 90-minute workout. The Nuggets had dozens of "I Believe" signs taped throughout their weight room, on the walls, even on the machines.Game notes LAKERS-NUGGETS PREVIEW Every chance he gets, Los Angeles Lakers guard Coby Karl razzes his dad, Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, suggesting he'll win an NBA title before his father ever does. But the rookie reserve thought better than to rib his father on Sunday. "Today is not a day for trash-talking," Coby said as he prepared for the Lakers' practice at the Pepsi Center, followed by dinner with dad. George Karl's team trails 3-0 in the best-of-7 series and in their 102-84 blowout loss at home on Saturday night, he was heckled on the bench by none other than his All-Star forward, Carmelo Anthony. "Just don't sit there!" Anthony bellowed as Karl watched his bench players hustle in the fourth quarter while his ineffective starters watched dejectedly from the bench. Afterward, Anthony, who is 4-15 in the playoffs in his career, accused the Nuggets, from Karl on down, of quitting. Karl said his hearing's so bad that he never realized 'Melo was heckling him, and he demurred when asked if he had a clear-the-air meeting Sunday with his disgruntled All-Star who had accused him of quitting. "I didn't hear his comments other than I thought we played a pretty good fourth quarter," Karl said. "Statistically and on film the fourth quarter was one of our better basketball performances. I don't quite comprehend the connotation other than fighting through frustration and being emotional after the game." Karl's other All-Star, Allen Iverson, said he was insulted at playing just over one minute in the fourth quarter, when Marcus Camby didn't play at all and Kenyon Martin played just over four minutes. "I have to coach the game," Karl said. "There's no personal thing there. I wanted to try a different look. If the game would had gotten back in hand, I would have put him back in the game. "In some ways I'm happy he's angry because he wants to play and that's fantastic." Unlike the Lakers, who practiced for 90 minutes, the Nuggets never got onto the court Sunday. "It's a day of regrouping, re-energizing," said Karl, who showed his team 10 minutes of film, then opened the floor to assistant coach Tim Grgurich for a pick-me-up talk. Eduardo Najera said the mood in the locker room was like a funeral until Grgurich lifted their spirits by reminding them what "a great life we have." "It's just the energy of getting the cloud away from heads and get the sunshine out by tomorrow," Karl said. "Tomorrow the scoreboard starts 0-0." Still, A.I., 'Melo and Martin all ducked reporters as they bolted out of the building. "I would probably prefer them to be more commentary and professional. But it's a frustrating business and it's a very difficult place to be," Karl said. "And I think we've got to respect their emotions." Camby stopped to talk, telling The Associated Press: "I think we regrouped today. There was a lot of frustration last night. The odds are definitely against us. But we'll just go out there and try to get a win. You get that one win and you never know what can happen and in the next game." The thing is, nothing the Nuggets have done has worked against the Lakers, who are 6-0 against Denver this season. "Right now, we've just got to play with pride and forget about Xs and Os," Najera said. "Forget about the triangle. Forget about guarding Kobe. Forget about everything." And while they're at it, forget about 'Melo's accusations of surrender, too. "I don't think he meant it. Nobody quit," Linas Kleiza said. "Nobody quit on each other. It's just him being the competitor he is. Sometimes things like that come out of peoples' mouths after tough losses." Kobe Bryant said the Nuggets team he expects to see Monday night is the one that won 50 games for the first time in 20 years, not the anguished bunch the Lakers have dominated in the playoffs. "Close-out games are always very, very tough," Bryant said. "They play loose and they tend to fight a lot more. It's going to be tough." The Nuggets may be motivated to avoid their first sweep since the Spurs beat them 3-0 in a best-of-5 playoff series in 1995, but Bryant said the Lakers are just as driven to end this series on Monday night. "Absolutely. You never want to give a team any kind of momentum," he said. Coby Karl said he felt sorry for his dad, having tagged along in previous years when the Nuggets were bounced out of the first round. "I know how he feels right now because I've been through it with him," the younger Karl said. On the other hand ... "I think it's great for us. We've got a couple older guys on the team. Hopefully we can shorten the series. That would help them a lot." Game notes |
 (Doug Pensinger/NBAE/Getty Images)
GAME NOTES CLOSING IT OUT With a 3-0 series lead entering Game 4 at Pepsi Center, the Lakers have the opportunity to close out their First Round series with Denver and advance to the Western Conference Semifinals. Dating back to the 2006 Playoffs, the Lakers have lost their last THREE straight close-out games overall. In first opportunity close-out situations, the Lakers have lost TWO straight, missing an opportunity to close-out Phoenix in Game 5 of the 2006 Western Conference First Round and also Minnesota in Game 5 of the 2004 Western Conference Finals. Although ultimately winning the Minnesota series in six games, the Game 5 loss snapped the Lakers streak of 11 consecutive series close-outs on the FIRST try. Prior to that series, the Lakers had not squandered a chance to eliminate an opponent from the postseason since losing Game 5 of the 2000 NBA Finals to the Indiana Pacers, eventually going on to win the series and the NBA Championship in six games. Overall, under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 16-10 in close-out games. The Lakers have won 21 of their last 22 series when holding the opportunity to close-out at any point. Their last series loss when having a close-out game came in 2006 when the Lakers squandered a 3-1 series lead against the Phoenix Suns. Prior to that, the Lakers had not lost a series when having a close-out game since their 1993 First Round meeting with Phoenix in which they led 2-0 before ultimately losing the next three straight and the series. The Lakers have not advanced in the postseason since defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2004 Western Conference Finals and advancing to the 2004 NBA Finals.
40-POINT GAMES IN THE POSTSEASON During the regular season, Bryant has scored 40+ points 92 times in his career. Earlier this season, Bryant’s 46 points February 1 at Toronto moved him passed Elgin Baylor (88 40-plus games) for third all-time. In the history of the NBA, only two players have more career 40-point games: Wilt Chamberlain (271) and Michael Jordan (173). The Lakers are 63-29 in games in which Bryant has scored 40+ points. This season, the Lakers went 4-3 when Bryant scored 40+ points.
30-Point Duos
36-16-8
Big Debut |
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