sramirez

Yell on, Jack. Yell on.

Ummm, where have you been all this time?  I knew that this Denver series was going to be tough, expecting a 7-game set.  But if L.A. plays like this, they’ll sail through Game 6, even in Denver.  I don’t know how much candy Lamar ate before the game, but he played like the beast he was in the first series against Utah, when he averaged 18 points and 11 boards.  Lamar manhandled Chris Andersen, Pau ran the break like Magic in ‘88, and Kobe looked like he didn’t spend a lot of energy despite playing 45 minutes. 

Kobe took only 13 shots – 6 of which were 3’s; so he was 5-7 inside the line – and he’s averaging 12 free throws a game, which means he’s getting in the paint and keeping Denver’s big men in foul trouble.  And the 8 assists is a great stat line, but if you watched the game, it was seeing how he got them.  Driving the paint and kicking out to Sasha “I can’t hit air right now” Vujacic for a 3 before halftime, driving and dropping off to Lamar for the flush, and the last, which was probably the best, and somewhat most surprising, when Kobe saw a wide open 3 but passed it up to Lamar again, who made the lay-in and got the foul.  He played beautifully last night, setting up, or “facilitating,” as everyone loves to say.  Derek Fisher also showed up, hitting 4 of 9 and along with his solid D, threw up a beautiful alley-oop to Kobe. 

These are the Lakers I think we all expected when the playoffs began.  But Lamar Odom’s back, along with everyone besides Kobe, Pau, and Trevor (most nights) forgot to make any shots.  The team shot 49% from the floor, spread it out and took their time on offense.  This was a different Lakers team from the previous 4 games this series.  They had a swagger about them – that aura the Bulls used to have. 

A key difference I saw in attitudes last night: every one of Nene’s fouls were argued and wined over.  The Nuggets could not seem to keep their cool.  On the other hand, Kobe was hit hard down the face by ‘Melo in the fourth – a borderline flagrant (a good hard foul in my opinion).  What does Kobe do?  Land on his feet, swish his free throws, and head down the other end for some ‘D.  I think the Lakers did something to the psyche of the Nuggets last night – they have the chance to close out the Nuggets and get some rest (hopefully) over the weekend before the Finals. 

Then comes the final test.