ShareThisIts nervous time again in for Los Angeles Lakers fans.
This time, deservedly so.
Denver evened up its series with the Lakers with a 106-103 win Thursday night at Staples Center, and that's a lot scarier than taking a 1-1 tie in games off to Houston.
In some ways, the Lakers played even better than they did in their Game 1 victory over Denver.
And they lost? Yikes! Bite those nails, wring those hands.
Thursday night, the Lakers appeared more in control of the game than they did Tuesday. They built an early lead, and had the upper hand most of the way.
Their defense on Carmelo Anthony, who was tag-teamed mostly by Trevor Ariza and Luke Walton, was better, as the Nuggets' star misfired his way to a 12-of-29 shooting night.
No matter.
The Lakers didn't dominate with their big men, but their top four frontcourt players still hit 19 of 32 shots, and the team eked out a slight rebounding edge over the Nuggets.
No matter.
The Lakers even had the Nuggets right where they wanted them early. Denver, coming off a heartbreaking loss that it coulda-shoulda won, was down by 14 points in the first half -- a good place for a lesser team with smaller hearts to fold.
Instead, the Nuggets chipped away, stayed close and, this time, made the clutch plays that won the game in the final two minutes.
"The whole thing was a demand -- we had to win this game," said Denver coach George Karl, whose team bears little resemblance to the aimless bunch that went out meekly to the Lakers in the first round a year ago.
"There's an inner spirit. We're a much (smarter), mentally tough team than last year. This team knows what it takes, to play hard and with passion."
That is, the Nuggets are the Lakers, folks. They think they should win this series.
"Why wouldn't we?" snapped Denver forward Kenyon Martin. "We believe. When you learn how to win in the regular season, it carries over to the postseason."
He paused, maybe remembering last year.
"This time," he said, "it carried over."
The Lakers, of course, will see their miscues at the end of the game in their sleep until Game 3 on Saturday.
After Kobe Bryant's jumper tied the game at 101-101 with 47 seconds to play, Denver's Nene grabbed a loose ball and fed Martin for a go-ahead layup.
The Lakers fumbled away their next possession into a jump ball. Pau Gasol won the jump, but Trevor Ariza lost the ball after getting bumped to the floor. Chauncey Billups hit 3 of 4 foul shots in the closing seconds, but the Lakers still had a chance to tie it with 4.3 seconds to play and the ball out of bounds.
Derek Fisher's corner three-ball didn't come close. San Antonio 2004 was a long time ago.
The Lakers spent the Houston series like a team that was very sure of itself. You can tell they're pretty sure of Denver, now, too.
"They've always been good -- to me," said Lakers forward Lamar Odom, when asked about the rising challenge of this postseason Nuggets team. "Anyone who knows basketball, just look at their roster. They've got players."
Just like the Lakers, whose expected glamour showdown with Cleveland in the NBA Finals is looking less sure now, on both coasts.
Said Denver's Martin, "Go play 'NBA Live' if you want to see that matchup."
Orlando-Denver? Yikes, indeed.
(Contact Gregg Patton at gpatton@PE.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
