Kobe Bryant hammers a game-high 31 points and Andrew Bynum racks up a triple-double with 10 points, 13 rebounds and phenomenal 10 blocks as the Los Angeles Lakers run riot over the Denver Nuggets in the game-1 of the first
round Western Conference playoffs series....
On Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Lakers got their playoff campaign off to a rollicking start with an easy 103-88 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Six players for the Lakers finished the game with double digit scores, with Kobe Bryant leading the way at 31. Andrew Bynum recorded a triple double with 10 points, 13 rebounds and a franchise best 10 blocks, tying the record for
the most blocks in a post season game.
Pau Gasol also played well for 13 points and 8 rebounds while Devin Ebanks, in his first playoff start, had 12 points in the game. Ramon Sessions also had a fair say in the game, finishing the night with 14 points and 5 assists.
Even though the Nuggets had 5 players scoring in double digits as well but their contribution came up way shot in the end as compared to the second half dominance by the Lakers. Danilo Gallinari led the way with 19 points, Kenneth
Faried scored 10 points in the game but the rest of the starters for Denver failed to score more than 9 points individually.
The bench scoring was led by the veteran reserve guard, Andre Miller, who racked up 12 points. Corey Brewer and Al Harrington added 11 and 10 points respectively. On the night the Nuggets bench outscored the Lakers bench 43-23.
However, it all came to off no use as Kobe and Bynum led the Los Angeles charge.
Both teams got off to a good start with nothing much to separate them at 10-9. However the Lakers managed to score 5 unanswered points, which were part of a prolonged 10-1 run as the home side got their lead into double figures
at the 1:28 mark. In the remaining time of the period, Lakers added 7 more points to their tally while holding the Nuggets to only score 4 to make the score 27-14.
Nuggets came out running in the second quarter, starting on a 13-4 run to cut the lead back down to 4 points. Hill put an end to that run with layup at the 7:55 mark and the Lakers managed to stay ahead in the contest. The score
line was 34-39 at the 3:57 mark; Lakers scored 6 quick unanswered points in the next several minutes to make it an eleven point game. The first half ended with the Lakers holding a 50-40 lead.
This Lakers advantage was extended to 14 in the opening minutes of the second half and from then the lead never got below the double digits mark. The closest the Nuggets got in the contest was 11 on three occasions till the 8:09
mark. However, the home side never let their lead get below that in the remaining time of the contest.
The onslaught continued in the fourth quarter with the home side further extending their advantage to 21 points at the 5:29 mark. Lakers were never troubled in the second half and were able to take this game by an ample margin
of 15 points.
Game 2 of this series will take place on Tuesday at the same venue.
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