DENVER—
After winning 67 regular season games and securing the top seed in the NBA's Western Conference, you had to wonder if the Lakers were insulted that they were perceived by many to be the underdogs in this series with the upstart Nuggets.The doubters had their ammunition to declare such a scenario was not far-fetched.
Exhibit A: A 4-1 series win over Utah that was more workmanlike than businesslike.
Exhibit B: A 4-3, hard-fought, physical, tougher than expected, and tougher than warranted win over the Houston Rockets. If this postseason was a court case, this epic seven game series was "the smoking gun" to all of the Kobe detractors.
To wit: the best team in the West, with the best player in the game, was barely able to handle a Rockets team without Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Dikembe Mutumbo. Two days after whipping the Rockets in L.A. by 40, they got embarrassed in a possible close out game in Houston. With apologies to Kyra Sedgwick, wasn't Kobe supposedly "The Closer"?
Exhibit C: A 106-103 loss to the Nuggets in the Conference Finals on Thursday night. A game L.A. led by as many as 14 points. A game that saw their home court advantage, something they worked all season long to gain, disappears faster than a Bryant sprint up court in transition.
Then it all changed: game three, Lakers 103, Nuggets 97.
Well, the home court is back, the Lakers are back, and most definitely, Kobe----is back. It's not like he went anywhere but early in the week, Jerry West, who brought Bryant to L.A. caused major waves by proclaiming James had surpassed him as the brightest star in the NBA constellation. Then, on cue, James went out and hit a three pointer for the ages on Friday to even up the Eastern Conference Finals. Bryant kept saying none of that mattered. He said he wasn't in it for personal accolades----he was in it for championships. That may be a case of "telling the truth by not lying." Do I think Kobe wants a fourth ring? Yes. Do I think he is motivated by those who say he is no longer the best player in the NBA? As Tim Donaghy would say, "you bet."
Kobe scored 41 points on Saturday night, hit the biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer that put L.A. up 96-95 and coming back down the court had that look on his face as if to say to the Nuggets fans "there's a reason you haven't been here in 24 years-----people like me keep crushing your dreams." The first two games of this series, Carmelo Anthony averaged 36.5 points. Bryant averaged 36 points. Through the first two games Denver scored 209 points, Los Angeles scored 208. This series was about as even as it gets----until Saturday.
Bryant finished 41and Carmelo had 21. More importantly, Anthony fouled out and you can't make clutch shots with six fouls.
The Nuggets are still alive, you don't come this far and have a leader like Chauncey Billups and give up this easily. Though, a few things have been learned from the biggest game and maybe most devastating loss in Nuggets history.
1) Carmelo's recent critical praise is completely warranted and has been earned-----but in this series, it is Kobe, first and foremost-----and everybody else on both teams, second.
2) J.R. Smith is equal parts exhilarating and aggravating, though we already knew that. Only he could hit a three pointer at the buzzer (end of the 3rd quarter) and draw a technical afterwards. As analyst Jon Barry said on ESPN after the game he turned "a three-pointer into a two-pointer." Phil Jackson only added to the credence of that statement when saying that Smith's technical was the spark the Lakers needed entering the fourth quarter.
3) George Karl cares-----really cares about this team. His postgame press conferences have been as just as emotional as they have been analytical.
Although, the math speaks for itself. The Nuggets might have to win two more games in L.A. Is that likely? I don't know and for the first time in this series the Nuggets were searching for answers themselves.
