Denver Nuggets provide an emphatic answer to arrogant Andrew Bynum - NBA Update
On Tuesday night, Los Angeles Lakers were looking to win the Game-5 and advance into the conference Semifinals. But the attitude with which the desperate Denver Nuggets took to the court left them startled. The Broncos withstood
Kobe Bryant’s 43 points and managed to edge out Lakers, 102-99 revitalizing their playoff hopes.
It was joint team effort with Andre Miller dropping 24 points and JaVale McGee ruling the paint with 21 points and loads of rebounds. But most importantly, the Nuggets threw in everything they had to offer. Andrew Bynum has said
a night before the game that close-out games are easy and the Nuggs made sure the Lakers big swallows his own words. They showed him exactly how difficult it is to win a playoff game.
Going into the game 5 Andrew said that playoffs are “actually kind of easy" and Nuggets coach George Karl used those 4 words to instigate a warring spirit in his team. His speech worked wonnders.
“It just gave me an opportunity to philosophize, which I think you know I like to do," Karl said after the game. "I think it's hard to win. I've been blessed to win a few series, and it's hard to win the next game and it's the
hardest thing in the world to win the fourth game. I don't care who you're playing, if it's the eighth seed, it's hard to win that fourth game."
Nuggets managed a 15-point lead midway through the 4th but with the fourth quarter, Kobe time began and the Lakers trimmed the deficit down to 3. Ty Lawson split a pair from the charity stripe to make it 100-96 l, but
Ramon Sessions came up with a dagger from downtown and cut the lead to 1 point. Miller netted a pair from free throw line and provided Nuggets with a 102-99 lead.
With only 5.2 clicks left in the game, the ball came into Kobe’s hands and he launched a 25 foot long ranger. The shot bounced back off the rim, Steve Blake grabbed the rebound and dished it out to Ramon Sessions but he couldn’t
make it as the time expired.
“I used to have a coach that said the basketball gods did not allow us to win this game today because we didn't deserve it.” Bryant said after the game, but the fact is that the Lakers suffered scripted their own downfall.
Their weak defence, especially by Bynum, and the inability to back their words have pushed them in a quagmire. The series now shifts to Denver for Game 6 and if the Nuggets pull this one off, the Lakers will surely be in trouble.
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