Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets Postgame 12/05/2007

The Lakers headed up to Denver tonight, in the second game of a back to back. Last night they cruised to an easy 116-95 victory over the hapless Minnesota Timberwolves. Los Angeles was without Kwame Brown (knee), Ronnie Turiaf (a concussion), and Andrew Bynum food poising), rendering their post presence to only Chris Mihm. It didn't create too much of problem though, the Lakers could have send the D-Fenders, and still would have come away with a win over 2-14 Minnesota. The Lakers faced a much tougher challenge against the Denver Nuggets tonight.

The Lakers got off to a good start in the opening quarter, but disaster almost struck in the second. Laker fans around the world held their collective breath as Kobe was tripped up from behind and lay in a heap near midcourt grabbing his shoulder. As the game cut to a timeout, dark thoughts surely entered the mind of many a Laker fan, with yours truly remembering Wade being wheeled off the court after sustaining a shoulder injury that kept him out for months. Thankfully however, a wheel chair was not necessary. Kobe only picked up a knock- a bone bruise, if you will. He was seen icing the shoulder on the bench, but returned to the action later.

Meanwhile in Kobe's absence, Allen Iverson was having one of the best games of his career. He went for 33 points in the first half as nobody on the Lakers was able to come close to stopping him.

While "A.I." was running on one man show for Denver, the Lakers were playing good team basketball. Once again the bench came up huge, this time it was Vladmir Radmanovic who lead the charge, making 5 three-pointers in a row during the first half. The Lakers were playing great overall in the first half on the offensive end, but defensive lapses, and Allen Iverson, kept it to only a 4 point Laker lead at the half.

Foul trouble plagued the Lakers in the third period, with Lamar, Kobe, and Walton all picking up their fourth personals. Kobe's was especially egregious, coming on the offensive end less than a minute into the second half. It relegated him to a spectator on ice until the fourth. In a post game interview, Bryant said he told his teammates to "just keep it close" during his absence, and they did- sending it into the fourth quarter knotted at 88. Iverson went wild with Kobe on the bench, running his point total up to 49 points through three quarters, shooting 17 of 21 from the field at one point.

The fourth quarter however, belonged to Mr. Bryant, as it always does. Although he started a little bit cold after icing his shoulder on the bench for the entire third, he warmed up towards the end. Most importantly, he locked down Allen Iverson holding him to only two points in the fourth, a sensational feat, even on nights when Allen was not playing out of his mind, as he was tonight. Kobe proved once again that when he wants to, he can be one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA.

All that being said, the game was still very tight down the stretch. Iverson's only basket of the quarter put the Nuggets up by 3 with 3:15 to go. From that point on though, it was all Lakers. The young Laker team looked like veterans, and they were much more poised than the Nuggets in crunch time. Radmanovic made a huge steal, and Derek Fisher made some big free throws, but it was Kobe that won the game for the purple and gold with some clutch jumpers in the final minute.

Final Thoughts:
Overall, this was a really big win for the Lakers. With everything that happened: Kobe getting hurt, Kwame and Turiaf out, Allen Iverson having a career game, the fact that the Lakers were able to pull out the win says alot. Not to mention that it was the second night of an all road back to back.

POTG-
In honor of the total team effort tonight, there is no POTG. Everyone on the Lakers really chipped in. Especially Kobe (25 points), Radmonovic (21), Fisher (20) and Odom (17).