Charged up Denver Nuggets await Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 on Sunday: NBA Playoffs 2012 Preview
After losing out the first two games of this Western Conference first round series, Denver Nuggets took to court as a rejuvenated side in Game 3 and came away with a win on Friday night.
Come Game 4, they will look to do the same as they play hosts to the Los Angeles Lakers at the Pepsi Center on Sunday night.
For the Nuggets, this game will be the key to their playoff hopes as they look to even up the series at two apiece whereas the Lakers would want to go home with a definitive 3-1 advantage.
The key to winning this ball game will be to run the floor and limit the number of points ‘The Black Mamba’ puts up. Even though Kobe Bryant managed to score 22 points in Game 3 loss, but it took him a total of 23 shots to reach
that mark. Denver hounded him perfectly and with him misfiring, the Lakers looked like an average side at best.
The Nuggets will also have to control the amount of turnovers. The fast paced offense does increase the probability of turnovers, but if they are to beat the Lakers, they will have to make the ball stick in their hands.
On the other hand, the key to winning and going up 3-1 for the Lakers lies on their ability to control the tempo of the game. Getting out played in Game 3 and just managing to hold on in Game 2 is mere proof of the fact that Nuggets
offensive tempo is hard to cope with. The important part of slowing down the game would be the Lakers ability to get their big men involved early in the game. Andrew Bynum has been impressive in the post season and along with Pau Gasol, he has to rule the
glass in Game 4.
The Lakers will also have to reduce Ty Lawson’s influence in the game to stand a chance in Game 4. Lawson racked up 25 points and 7 assists in the last ball game and is key to Nuggets offensive machinery.
Lakers coach Mike Brown was frustrated with the low level of intensity his players displayed in Game-3 and challenged his team to do a better job on Lawson;
"I would have liked to have us to come out with a lot more energy. Ty Lawson had his way with us early on. We did a decent job on him in this series so far so to see him get loose early was disappointing."
Along with the lack of energy, Lakers would hope for Bynum to get going early this time. The LAL centre was held scoreless in the first half of Game 3, finishing with a total of 18 points, all coming in the second half.
On the other hand Denver Coach George Karl has laid much emphasis on the amount of energy his players bring to the court.
"The game for us is all about energy. It's not complicated for us. When we play poorly we don't play with enough energy and we don't push the pace and we take too many jump shots."
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