| 22 May 2009
(Denver-CO)The Western Conference Finals just became a five game series with Denver holding three of the possible five remaining games at home. The Nuggets were able to erase L.A’s home court advantage by downing the Lakers in tinsel town, 106-103, after falling behind by as many 14 in the first half of game two. Now, the Western Conference Finals comes to Denver knotted 1-1 for games three and four where the Nuggets are undefeated so far this postseason and have won their last 16 games.
Game two didn’t get off to the splendid start of game one for the Nuggets. Both teams went back and forth through the first half of the first quarter before L.A. went on a 12-4 run to take early control, 25-16. The Lakers big front line was still plaguing the Nuggets on the offensive glass and the early L.A. run was made on extra opportunities from said rebounds. In fact, all four of the Lakers offensive rebounds in the quarter translated into eight of L.A.’s 31 points as they led by eight after one. Another plague of the Nuggets in the first twelve minutes was fouls. Dahntay Jones picked up four fouls in his first six minutes of play as the Nuggets committed eight fouls overall in the first quarter. Kobe Bryant made Denver pay with six free-throws en route 14 first quarter points while the Lakers as a team were 8-9 from the stripe.
Down by eight, the Nuggets should have felt lucky to still be hanging around after shooting 9-22 in the first quarter, but instead played as if they were in the lead by just as many to start the second. Energy wise, Denver was lollygagging. The Nuggets were being beaten back on defense in the first four minutes of the second quarter as the Lakers scored on too many easy buckets to extend their biggest lead of the game, 41-27. It was at this juncture that Carmelo Anthony took his game to the next level. ‘Melo went on to score the next 14 consecutive Denver points as the defenseless Nuggets struggled to survive on Anthony’s offensive life support. The Lakers were still in the lead by 13 after ‘Melo put the team on his back, but when you think about how many the Nuggets could have been trailing by without Anthony’s sustenance it’s a miracle this game didn’t turn into a laugher.
Then, suddenly, in front of some of Hollywood’s finest the tables turned in Denver’s favor with a 14-2 Nugget run to close out the half. The Lakers missed four out of their last five shots in the final 2:08 of the first half as Chauncey Billups and Linas Kleiza connected on back-to-back threes, made two free-throws apiece on the next two possessions, and Mr. Big Shot tossed an inbounds pass to himself off the derrière of Kobe Bryant to get Denver another quick deuce and within one, 55-54, at the break. This is not the first time Chauncey has pulled this off, but definitely the most memorable. The previous time this heady move was used was in the State of Colorado Championship game when Mr. Big Shot was just known as Smooth as a senior from George Washington High School.
And while I can’t say enough about Carmelo’s 14 straight points in the second quarter, the true hero of the first half for Denver was Linas Kleiza. In the first quarter, Denver was abused on the offensive glass. But with Linas grabbing eight rebounds in his eleven minutes spanning much of the second quarter, the Nuggets allowed just two offensive boards in second. LK, who is playing with a broken finger tip, was also 3-5 from distance and 2-2 from the free-throw line to give the Nuggets a much-needed eleven first half points off the bench.
In the third quarter, the Nuggets were able to tie the game at 64 apiece, but were never able to take the lead after Nene missed the free-throw of an and-1 opportunity. Trevor Ariza then quickly scored seven straight points to extend L.A. by seven with five minutes remaining in the quarter. However, the resilient Nuggets led by Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony each scoring six points in the final four minutes of the third wouldn’t go away and trailed, 81-80, entering the fourth quarter.
The Nuggets regained their first lead since the early goings of the game, 85-82, on Linas Kleiza’s fourth three which was the spark for a 7-0 Denver run. The Nuggets then went scoreless for the next three minutes of the fourth quarter before Carmelo retied the game at 93 on two made free-throws, Kenyon answered two free-throws by Pau Gasol with a very heady bank shot from the left wing to tie the game at 95, and Kobe Bryant hit a three with Carmelo Anthony literally wiping sweat from the Mamba’s brow to tie the game at 99 all with 1:44 to play in regulation.
But unlike in game one, with the outcome of game two on the line the ball was never taken out of the hands of Chauncey Billups. Chauncey drew a veteran whistle on the hedging Pau Gasol to earn two free-throws on Denver‘s next possession. Mr. Big Shot made both to give Denver a two-point lead that was quickly erased by Kobe Bryant’s short jumper on the other end after J.R. Smith tried to force a tough pass in traffic turning the ball over. Tied again at 101, the Nuggets scrambled after penetration by Chauncey Billups was collapsed upon forcing Billups to make a high-risk pass out the top of the key of which Nene corralled and fed the waiting Kenyon Martin for the final go-ahead bucket of the game for Denver. Kobe Bryant lost control of the dribble on the ensuing possession forcing a jump ball between the seven-foot Pau Gasol and Chauncey Billups. Pau won the tip, but Trevor Ariza was unable to keep his feet under pressure from Nene and while trying to get the ball to Derek Fisher coughed the ball up to Nene who immediately got the ball to Chauncey Billups for the pending immediate foul. Billups made three out of his next four free-throws to ensure the Nuggets couldn’t lose on L.A.’s last possession, but Denver chose not to foul with four seconds to play and Fisher missed a three from the right corner to tie.
And unlike in game one when the Nuggets missed twelve free-throws overall, Denver was 29-37 on freebies in game two including 17 consecutive attempts and 18 of their last 19 down the stretch to hold off the Lakers. Carmelo scored a game-high 34 points and for the fifth straight game in these playoffs scored 30+ points to break a 24 year old record held by Alex English for the most playoff games scoring 30 or more points consecutively. ’Melo added the cascading line of nine rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block in 42 minutes which included all but :55 of the second half. Chauncey Billups, along with managing the final three possessions of the game to perfection, played a game-high tying 44 minutes scoring 27 points on 13-16 from the free-throw line, and with just one turnover. Kenyon Martin and Linas Kleiza each finished with 16 points with LK’s aforementioned eight first half rebounds and K-Mart adding three steals, three rebounds, two assists, and a block.
This win gets an 11-0 all-time playoff record of a monkey against the Lakers finally off Denver’s back, but puts a the new pressure of this series onto the Nuggets coming back to the Mile High City for the next two games.
More analysis to come. But for now...
Go Nuggets! 
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