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With a 119-92 victory, the Lakers will be moving on to the NBA Finals next week[2nd straight season]. The Lakers played an almost perfect game which was surprising compared to their recent games where they had problems winning back to back games. Any other team would have celebrated tonight's victory, not the Lakers though. They knew they were suppose to return back to the Finals, they are focused on winning it this year. What may help them in the Finals is the fact that they have been tested a lot more than last year's run. I mean they are really focusing, Ariza said he will not sleep until they win that ring. Kobe played superb though scoring 35 points on 12 of 20 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 10 dimes. He played so great George Karl said that Jesus would have had trouble guarding him. Now I don't know if I wouldn't take it that far [Karl better watch himself] but Kobe played extra good. Of course you have to give his team credit because they are the reason they are advancing. He had help from Ariza [17], Gasol [20], and they key Odom [20]. You have to blame the Nuggets for not winning this series because if they would not have turnover the ball at the end of Game 1 & 3 they would have swept the Lakers. Oh well good season though Nuggets

Note: Today was Carmelo's birthday. I am sure he is "thanking" Kobe for the present. Oh yeah almost forgot have to give credit to JR Smith. He had a great night and that's why I thought they would win. Billups only had 10 which was definitely not enough. 

Lost in Denver

The key reason the Lakers lost [101-120] was because they got out rebounded 58-40. Between Kenyon Martin, NeNe, and Chris Anderson, they had 42 of them. The Lakers had no answer for the Nuggets who was even playing with a sick Carmelo Anthony [he shot 3-16]. The Nuggets got big help from JR Smith who finally showed up and scored 24 points. What hurt the Lakers were their bench play. They got no help from them unlike the Nuggets. Bench players like Birdman [Chris Anderson] and Linas Klieza came off and made a great impact. Kobe on the other hand had 34 points but just from 10-26 shooting [game like Lebron's Game 3]. Just like Lebron, Kobe did not get any help from anyone else so instead of going up 3-1, the Nuggets tied the series at 2 going back to LA. If the Nuggets play like this they may win the next 2 games because the Lakers are showing their split personalities again. I do know that Kobe needs a guard to step up beacuse Kobe and Gasol cannot be the only one playing hard. Odom or Gasol need to step it up big time.

Nuggets Lose it at Home

Game 3 [in which I thought the Nuggets would take] the Lakers came away feeling a little bit better about themselves after winning 103-97. Tonight was not a 1 or 2 point final score but the game still was not decided until the end. Not to be out done by his counter partner, Kobe scored 41 to lead all scorers. Pau Gasol continued to step up for the Lakers has he chipped in 20.  Denver was leading by 8 until the Lakers Kobe sparked a comeback scoring 13 4th quarter points [you could blame JR Smith since he did draw a technical]. Bryant hit a 3 himself that was big because it put the Lakers up 96-95. What sealed the game was a repeat of Game 1. Trevor Ariza stole the ball for what looked like the Nuggets ran the exact same play & got the same result. Ariza would make the two FTs to put the Lakers up 99-95. If the Lakers could have made some more of their FTs the game could have been a little less stressful as they went 31 for 45 [68%]. It may have been from something in Denver because they all looked exhausted after the game [even Kobe missed some FTs]. I mean I understand this is the playoffs but they looked more tired than a high school team after first day of tryouts. The Lakers did catch a break as they held Melo to just 21 points [shooting 4-13]. Billups had a decent game but not enough points to lead his team to a victory [18 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists]. Game 4 will be in Denver again and will be big because anything but a win for Denver may wrap this series up. The key will be their front court picking up their shooting percentages [30.6%] and they keep people out of foul trouble.

I love the NBA Playoffs still! Especially after Lebron & Kobe keep going back and forth with their performances. I wonder what Lebron will have in store for his fans & the NBA tomorrow. 

All Tied Up in the West

Carmelo and the Nuggets pull out the win [like I predicted]. Melo came out on fire still and scored 34 points, had 9 boards, and 4 assists. Along with him, Billups scored 27 points to led the Nuggets to a 106-103 win to tie the series at 1-1. Although I was wrong in the person who I thought would show up big [JR Smith], the Nuggets did have Linas Kleiza score 16 points and had 8 huge boards. The Nuggets fixed their FT problem but it looks like the Lakers have the problem now. 

The guy [Ariza] who stole the show in Game 1, turned over the ball late in the game when they were only down by two. Even after the happened the Lakers had a chance to tie the game, but good defense allowed Fisher shoot to fall short. Tonight's play of Fisher is what hurt the Lakers as he went 1-9 and had only 3 points. Kobe Bryant had 32 but was not still enough. It looked like they had a Cleveland night as they were up by 13 only to see it be cut down and for them to lose. 

The next two games will be at Denver where they have been good the past 16 games. Kobe did say they were the best road team so we shall see after last round they did not win a game on the road. 

Well so much for a sweep

The Nuggets missed their chance to close out the Mavs as they lost 119-117. Dirk Nowitzki had another great game as he led with 44 points. This time down the stretch he was clutch [as he scored 19 of his 44 in the 4th].  The good news for the Nuggets is that they get a chance to go home and close out the series. The bad news for the Mavs, nobody has never came back to win a series from being down 3-0. Carmelo was still good as he scored 41 points but it was not enough.

Game 3s

Whew! What a finish to the Mavs-Nuggets game. If you missed it, you missed one heck of a game from both teams. Chauncey Billups was fantastic of course scoring 32 points. On the other side Dirk Nowitzki matched him with scoring 33 points and having 16 rebounds. You cannot blame him for the Mavs not winning. He is doing this thing but the x-factor was probably Carmelo who scored 31 and hit the game winning 3 with 1 second left. There was a little controversy because there should have been a foul but if you are going to foul somebody, foul them. This is the playoffs man knock him into the stands. This is looking like it will be another sweep for the Nuggets as they take a commanding 3-0 lead. Here are the highlights of this game:

News out of Houston is that Yao will miss the remainder of the season with a hairline fracture in his foot. This comes after the Rockets lost game 3. This is a devastating blow to the Rockets chances as the series looks to be all but over in the next two games.