ShareThisOne down, just three sweaty, grueling, grinding, nail-biting victories to go and the Los Angeles Lakers are in the NBA Finals.
As expected, the Denver Nuggets aren't the Houston Rockets.
Not by a long shot.
The one-basket victory by the Lakers on Tuesday night in the opener of the Western Conference finals wasn't a matter of the Lakers turning on the energy when they had to, or sleep-walking through the first three quarters.
They were getting beat. By a team that figures to push them every dribble of the way.
"It was just at the end, everything went right," said Lakers young center Andrew Bynum, who may be struggling through his first, real postseason but analyzed this 105-103 win on the nose.
The Lakers trailed by 13 early. They never led by more than four points in the second half. They trailed by seven with about seven minutes left, trailed by a basket with 1:35 to go, and then got all the critical plays and breaks they needed down the stretch.
"We just had to gut it out," said the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. "We were down virtually the whole game, and had to dig down deep."
His team needed every one of his 40 points, mainly because the best clutch player in the game was about the Lakers' only viable option.
"We didn't have much else going on," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
This wasn't a matter of the Lakers underestimating a team they should handle easily. This was Denver playing like the postseason dynamo it has become, the team that has convinced lots of national pundits that they should be the favorites in this series, not the top-seeded Lakers.
"They outplayed us," conceded Jackson.
The Lakers' last eight points were consecutively drained free throws, two by Pau Gasol, six by Bryant. They moved in front to stay, 101-99, with 30.5 seconds left on two free throws by Bryant, then got a huge steal on the subsequent inbounds play by Trevor Ariza -- thanks to a careless lob by Denver's Anthony Carter.
Lakers playoff experience showing through in crunch time? Definitely.
The Nuggets playing in the steamy cauldron of a conference final, and not being able to handle the pressure? The Lakers shouldn't count on it.
Denver took control early by attacking the rim. Center Nene's violent slam-dunks were the lasting image of the half, plays that should have had the Staples Center maintenance crew checking the basket apparatus (and Gasol) for structural damage at halftime.
Game 1 was just a jump ball (the Lakers won one of those in the final minute, too), with lots of physicality and grit. The rest of the series figures to be one aftershock after another.
"There should be a lot of scoring and a lot of physical play," said Lakers forward Luke Walton. "Both teams have a lot of firepower, so if one team gets hot and the other doesn't it could get lopsided.
"But if both teams play well, they're all going to be close."
Someone floated the theory that the Nuggets gave it their best shot in Game 1, and the narrow loss will deflate them.
"We won't lay down," countered Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups, whose veteran leadership has flipped Denver from rudderless in 2008 to ruthless in 2009. "You'll have to beat us."
Bryant scoffed at the notion that Denver is ready to break.
"They'll come out harder Thursday," he said. "So will we."
One game on, one game off clearly won't work this time.
(Contact Gregg Patton at gpatton@PE.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
