| 2009 NBA Playoffs: LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets Game 2 |
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| Written by Scott Burgess | |||||||
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Thursday, 21 May 2009
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 The LA Lakers got away with one in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals as the Lakers pulled of a 105-103 win over the Denver Nuggets. Tonight, May 21, you can bet the Nuggets learned a lot from their loss and they’ll look to steal a win from the Lakers and go home with the home court advantage. NBA oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have the Lakers as -5.5 point home favs over the Nuggets with the over/under set at 211 points. Be sure to get your 2009 NBA Playoffs LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets Prediction in now at Sportsbook.comThe Nuggets led the Lakers in the first quarter, they were down by one at the half, they led going into the third and then they let Kobe Bryant take over. "We played 46 1/2 solid minutes, just the last minute or so got away from us. But we can take a lot of things from it that we did well," Kenyon Martin said. "We just need to eliminate some of the little mistakes and go from there. That's the beauty of it, there's another game tomorrow." The Nuggets got a great performance from Carmelo Anthony who finished with 39pts after making 14 of 20 from the field and 4 of 5 from the arch. Chauncey Billups ended up with 18pts, while Kenyan Martin added 15pts and Nene contributed 14pts. Carmelo knows that it’s not up to hi m to win games, like the Lakers depend on with Kobe. "I don't really think it's about me putting up numbers," Anthony said. "I'm not going to beat the Lakers by myself. Chauncey's not going to beat the Lakers by himself. We need our bench, our X-factor guys J.R. Smith, Linas Kleiza and Chris Andersen. We need everybody like we've been doing it so far." The Lakers Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, including six free throws in the final 30 seconds Tuesday night, to give the Lakers a home win after being outplayed most of the game. "It was one of those gutty performances that you have to have throughout the postseason," Bryant said after practice Wednesday. "We had everything working against us - mistakes, loose balls, bobbling balls out of bounds. It just seemed like one of those nights, but we managed to pull through it." Derek Fisher made some timely 3-pointers in the fourth and ended up with 13pts, while Pau Gasol banged away in the paint to finish with 13pts 14 rebounds. Gasol and Andrew Bynum will be looking to make a stand in Game 2, something they didn't accomplish in Game 1. They were outscored 29-19 by the shorter duo of Martin and Nene. Bynum was limited by foul trouble, and Gasol had four fouls. The Lakers will tighten up their defense tonight. "Just on defense alone we can be more productive," Lamar Odom said. "We were lucky to kind of stay in that game. We know we can play a lot better than we did." Recent Trends to Consider:
2009 NBA Playoffs LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets When: Thurs, May 21, 2009 9:00 PM ET Line: Sportsbook.com Pick: Nuggets +5.5 Point-Spreads.com 2009 NBA Playoffs LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets The Bottom Line: The Nuggets were stronger and more aggressive, Chauncey Billups knows how to finds the open players. The Lakers barely pulled off the win. Go Nuggets! Be sure to get your 2009 NBA Playoffs LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets Prediction in now at Sportsbook.com and receive a 10% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit.                        |
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