Denver Nuggets open account in playoffs with 99 – 84 win over Los Angeles Lakers – NBA Recap - Part 1
The Denver Nuggets were down 2 – 0 in their Western Conference first round playoff matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers but they didn’t let the pressure get to them, pulling out a well deserved 99 – 84 win. Playing at the Pepsi Center for the first time this
postseason, the Nuggets played with a lot of energy and kept the Lakers on the back foot for long periods.
Nuggets coach George Karl certainly believed that the key to winning the game was the urgency displayed by Denver in front of their home fans. He said the team is at its most dangerous when playing an up-tempo game and that showed tonight.
"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."
Los Angeles Lakers weren’t able to contain the high flying Nuggets and coach Mike Brown singled out Ty Lawson as someone who hurt the away side early on, setting a tone for the game.
"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."
Lawson was arguably the best player on the night as he finished with a game high 25 points. In addition the point guard had 7 assists and 4 rebounds for the Nuggets. Andre Miller also played his part with the veteran scoring 13 points and handing out 6 assists
off the bench, not to mention his 5 rebounds.
The Nuggets showcased their depth during the game, with 4 other players going into double digits. These included Kenneth Faried with 12 points, Danilo Gallinari with 13 points, Arron Afflalo with 10 and JaVale McGee who had a terrific double-double; 16 points
and 15 rebounds.
The Lakers and Nuggets went toe to toe early on in the game and there was nothing to separate the two sides, with the score 12 – 12 and 5:34 left in the first quarter. The Nuggets picked up the pace afterwards with a 7 – 0 run that got them to 19 – 12 and
later finished the quarter on an 11 – 0 sprint, heading into the second quarter up at 30 – 14.
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