Lakers-Nuggets Series Recap

So on to the meat and potatoes of this blog. Mmmmm...that makes me hungry, like Kobe-puppet is when he's showing LeBron-puppet how to get some championship rings of his own. By the way, these are undoubtedly the greatest basktball commercials this decade right? Is there any debate for that? I mean, they're puppets. They're Kobe and LeBron. They're freaking hilarious. They live together. And they spend their time one-upping each other in ridiculous ways. Did I mention they're freaking hilarious? Anyways, on to the good stuff.

Coming into the series, these were my thoughts. (By the way, I'm a Lakers fan. So while I try to remain objective...I'm still a Lakers fan) I was absolutely convinced that the Nuggets were nowhere near as good as people were making them out to be coming in. I figured, "Hey, they're the Nuggets. I mean, what have they ever done in the playoffs?" Which is true, they'd never made the NBA Finals (still haven't =D), this was their first trip to the conference finals since 1985, and since Carmelo came along in 2003-04 they had been knocked out of the playoffs in round 1 5 straight years--including a 5 game schalacking at the hands of the CLIPPERS!!! in '06 and a sweep by the Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza-less Lakers last season.
(Side note: How come when people talk about last year's Lakers team that came up short, they always put the asterisk of Bynum being out, but never talk about Ariza not being there? I mean, look who's more important and playing better this postseason. (Hint: not the guy who got the $12.5 million a year extension earlier this season) True, Ariza's 3 point shooting wasn't there a year ago, but his hustle, athleticism, and defensive skills were sorely missed. Remember, the Lakers had Vladimir Radmonovic and Luke Walton take turns guarding Paul Pierce in the finals last season. Think that made it easier for Pierce to get his Finals MVP? The correct answer is an emphatic YES.)
Sure, the Billups trade made Denver a different and significantly better team, but good enough to challenge the Lakers, who finished one spot, but 11 games ahead of the Nuggets in the Western Conference standings? I thought not. It was a mirage. People were blinded by Chris "Birdman" Andersen's colorful tattoos. Here was a team who, as gaudy as that 58 point road drubbing was, needed 5 games to knock off an absolutely skeletal Hornets squad who had quit on their coach 3 months ago. Any other team could have swept that series right? Then against the Mavs, the Nuggets were one atrocious officiating call away from being tied 2-2 after 4 games. That could have been a long, drawn-out affair like the Lakers-Rockets series. Again, not as impressive as people made it out to be. And of course, they were still the Nuggets, the team full of knuckleheads and according to Mark Cuban, "thugs", whom the Lakers had never had a problem beating in the playoffs (won previous 9 games and all 4 series). To me, it seemed the Lakers should be able to take care of business in 5, except their Complacency Syndrome might take it to 6 or even 7 like the previous series. I was wrong on both counts.

The Nuggets were much MUCH better than I had given them credit for. Their offense featured the ultra-smooth Carmelo, the ultra-clutch Chauncey, and the ultra-attacking everyone else. They got to the line, they got offensive rebounds and putbacks, they got easy baskets off the break, and as many open 3 pointers as a team could want. On defense, they tried. I was genuinely shocked at the defensive effort of Carmelo and particularly J.R. Smith. They played smart, helped, rotated, and gave Lakers other than Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol open shots (the best defense you can play against them). The scariest part was, the Lakers were actually playing hard every game (with the possible exception of game 4, but I think fatigue played a part in that one), contrary to their usual game-to-game lapses. The Nuggets got the Lakers' best effort every game and matched it. The series was dead even after 4 games and 3 quarters and it could have gone either way. Then, 3 things saved the Lakers:

1.) The supporting cast finally came through. The Nuggets' defensive strategy was the same throughout the series. Make someone other than Kobe or Pau beat us. The Pau part was easy. Inexplicably, he hardly touched the ball (just 10 shots per game despite shooting over 63% from the field). This allowed the Nuggets to double team Kobe before he got in a position to shoot and force the ball out of his hands. It worked for the first part of the series. But then, the other guys started coming through. Kobe's passes were awarded 18 assists over the final 2 games. Shannon Brown provided a lift off the bench, literally, lifting off and throwing down on Birdman to spark a Lakers rally in game 5. The long-dormat Sasha Vujacic connected on 50% of his threes over the last half of the series. He, and other struggling shooters Trevor Ariza, Derek Fisher, and Lamar Odom combined to go 14-31 (45.2%) on treys over that span as the Lakers took advantage of the open shots that the Nuggets conceded. Even Luke Walton draws my praise by hitting 5 of his 7 shots (including his first 4) in game 6, stepping up when Ariza was in foul trouble. (Did I just say Luke Walton stepped up??? I need a cold shower)

2.) The Lakers' defense showed up. In the first 4 games of the series it was the Nuggets' bigs who controlled the paint with their aggressive rebounding and spectacular blocked shots. That was not the case over the last 2 series clinching games. The Lakers outblocked the Nuggets 16-8 over the two contests and their big man trio of Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum contributed 47 rebounds compared to Nene, K-Mart, and Birdman's combined 34. The fourth quarter of game 5 was defined by huge defensive stops by the Lakers, as Gasol and Odom controlled the basket area and the Nuggets' potent offense was held to a pedestrian 18 points. The defensive brilliance carried over into game 6 in Denver where the Nuggets averaged over 111 points per game in the playoffs coming in. Their game 6 scoring output? Just 92. The shift in the Lakers' defense can be summed up in the performance of Carmelo Anthony. Melo averaged 31.3 points a game on better than 48% shooting over the first 3 games. Those numbers dropped to 23.7 a game on just 32% shooting for the last 3 games.

3.) "Aggressive" Lamar Odom: The bottom line is when Lamar Odom is on his game, the Lakers are unbeatable. A top 10 NBA talent, when LO unleashes himself, he wreaks havoc on the court. His energy and all around stellar play over the final two games pushed the Lakers over the top. In that pair of games he shot 14-27 from the field (including 3-3 from behind the 3 point line), averaged 19.5 points, 11 boards, and 2 blocks a game, turned the ball over just once, and was a +34 on the court. His howling facial over Birdman and stingy low-post defense was the catalyst for the Lakers running away with the fourth quarter in a pivotal game 5, and don't forget about the two inbounds plays he defended earlier in the series which sealed the first 2 Lakers victories. "The Goods" was nothing but his moniker in the clincher as well.

All-in-all it was a terrific series, competitive and well played (though I can't say the same about the officiating). The Nuggets pushed the Lakers to their next gear, which could be exactly what the team needs in preparation for another tough opponent in the Finals. With the bench back from the dead, "Aggressive" Lamar, Bynum and Ariza in the lineup, quietly consistent Pau, and the best closer in the game, the Lakers are equipped to cash in on their finals trip this time around.