The Nuggets Are Flat Out Better Than The Lakers
I've been singing the praises of the Denver Nuggets for a month now and their performance last night did nothing to change my mind. Put simply, they are a better team than the Los Angeles Lakers. I don't know if the Nuggets will win this seven game series, but they should prevail because there is simply more talent on the Denver roster.
Kobe Bryant wasn't the best player on the court in game four. It was J.R. Smith and truth be told it wasn't even close. Smith has always been a spectacular (albeit streaky) long range shooter. However, J.R. has taken his game to an entirely new level in the playoffs by playing exceptional man to man defense and distributing the ball to his teammates for easy baskets.
Chauncey Billups was rock solid at the point and with a banged up Carmelo Anthony struggling all game, Nene, Kenyon Martin, Birdman Andersen, Linas Kleiza and Dahntay Jones all made valuable contributions. The Nuggets wanted this game much more than the Lakers and if Los Angeles doesn't play with more intensity in game five then Denver is definitely going to take a 3-2 lead in the series...
Posted by San Diego Sports Guy at 5/26/2009 5:55 AM 
Categories: NBA
Tags: Birdman J.R. Smith Lakers Phil Jackson Nuggets
Categories: NBA
Tags: Birdman J.R. Smith Lakers Phil Jackson Nuggets
I agree that the Nuggets are better than the Lakers (disagree that JR Smith was the best player on the court -- he was the best player in the closing minutes because he hit so many shots, but Kobe singlehandedly is keeping the Lakers in these games). It is shocking that the Nuggets' inability to inbounds the ball in the closing seconds has led to two Lakers wins. If the Nuggets execute both those inbounds plays, it's reasonable to assume that they manage to win one of those games. (Both is an overstatement since the Nuggets still needed to score, but they certainly would have gotten at least one bucket.) That means that the Nuggets should be up 3-1 instead of tied 2-2. The ineptitude on the inbounds plays are unforgivable. They work on these plays all season, and it solely comes down to execution. Unfortunately, that's where the Nuggets' inexperience is showing up and hurting them. So far, the Lakers have been lucky, playing four "losable games", and sneaking away with two wins. The Nuggets are the better team, but they need to play like the better team for the full 48 minutes to win the series. With under 3 minutes to play yesterday, the Nuggets committed two technical fouls. They had a big enough lead, and a hot enough hand with JR Smith, to hold on and win the game. But that's three games out of four where they made huge mental errors down the stretch. For all us Kobe haters out there, let's hope the Nuggets can mature in time to close out this series!
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I recorded and watched the whole game. There were two reasons the Nuggets won: 1) Smith and 2) They relentlessly crashed the glass and wanted the ball more than the Lakers
Kobe is almost always going to get his points...it's just a matter of how hard he has to work for them. The Nuggets would love for him to take 26 (or more) shots every game. Most of his shots these days are coming form 18 ft+ away from the basket and usually off balance, turn around or fade away jumpers.
If the Nuggets do lose the series it probably will come down to those two failed inbounds plays. Simply inexcusable. The Nuggets still have a lot of boneheads on the team (Smith, Andersen, Martin and Melo), but with Billups around it appears as though most of them are maturing. We'll see what happens the rest of the way...
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