| A Signature Road Win Authored by Brandon Hoffman - May 24, 2009 - 12:01 pm
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The Los Angeles Lakers got off to another slow start in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, but came up with several big plays down the stretch to escape with a 103-97 win over the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers were outscored in the paint (40-34), on second-chance points (13-10), fastbreak points (19-10), and were dead even with the Nuggets in almost every other major statistical category heading into the final period. But with homecourt advantage on the line, the Lakers forced nine straight misses on the defensive end, and Trevor Ariza hit a three-pointer with seven and a half minutes remaining to give the Lakers their first lead (81-80) since the 7:01 mark of the first quarter. Ariza scored 8 points in the final period quarter; none more important than two free throws after another game-changing steal.
With 37.1 seconds remaining on the clock, and L.A. up two after four straight points from Kobe Bryant, including a dagger 3-ball with 1:10 remaining and the Lakers down two, Ariza stepped in front of a pass intended for Carmelo Anthony and raced upcourt for the layup. Anthony quickly fouled Ariza from behind to prevent the open attempt, but Ariza knocked down both free throws to extend Los Angeles’ lead to four with 36.5 seconds remaining in the game. It was a free throw parade from that point on as Bryant knocked down four more freebies to silence the Denver crowd, which serenaded him with “Kobe sucks!” as the clock ticked down to zero.
Asked about the chants after the game, Bryant said: “It really helped me, to be honest with you because I couldn’t feel my legs one bit, not at all. And when they started chanting that, it just reminded me what we’re playing for and where we’re playing.”
Bryant scored 41 points on 12-of-24 from the field, 2-of-5 from the three-point line, and 15-of-17 from the free throw line. Fourteen of Bryant’s game-high 41 points came in the final period. Pau Gasol chipped in with 20 points, and 11 rebounds. And Ariza added 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points, but failed to record a single field goal in the second half and finished just 4-of-13 from the field. Chauncey Billups, Chris Andersen, Nene, Dahntay Jones, and J.R. Smith each scored in double-figures for Denver.
The Lakers proved why they were the league’s best road team during the regular season (29-12), but truth be told, they stole another victory from the Nuggets. Los Angeles upped their defensive intensity in the fourth quarter, however the Nuggets failed to capitalize on a number of good looks.
Denver did a good job of moving Anthony around the floor, setting him up in high screen-and-rolls, wing postup, and ball handoffs at the free-throw-line extended, but he Anthony never got back into a rhythm after scoring 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting in the first quarter, especially from beyond the arc. Anthony shot just 1-for-7 from the three-point line. Anthony, Billups and Smith combined for nineteen of the team’s 27 long-distance misses.
Nuggets Coach George Karl criticized his team’s shot selection after the game. “We didn’t play a playoff style game, where we’re valuing every shot, valuing every possession, valuing every opportunity,” Karl said. “We had some opportunities to spur them in the third quarter and I think we … way too many three-pointers, and then the Lakers’ 28-11 free throw line advantage in the second half. I think we just threw away too many opportunities.”
Anthony’s misses weren’t caused by a change in defensive philosophy by the Lakers. Los Angeles continued to overload the strong side and funnel Anthony to the baseline, which gives him a step on his defender and allows him to shoot weakly contested pullup jumpers from the wings. The Lakes also struggled to deny penetration once again, and were especially vulnerable once their first line of defense was breached. The Nuggets assisted on 21 of their 33 field goals, many of those dimes coming on easy dumpoffs to Kenyon Martin or Nene when Gasol, Bynum, or Odom were forced to stop guard penetration.
But give the Lakers credit. They won a big playoff game in a hostile arena. Asked about the significance of Saturday’s victory, Kobe Bryant didn’t backpedal from its importance.
“I rank this right up there with some of the biggest road wins we’ve had since I’ve been a Laker,” Bryant said. “Because in the past we always had guys that had a lot of experience. Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Ron Harper, they’ve all been through this stuff before. For our guys this is brand-new. Last year, we weren’t tested like this. So this means a lot. And it goes a long way for us as a club.”
With homecourt advantage unlikely to be theirs in the Finals should they advance, tests such as the one faced Saturday can become a difference maker.
Brandon Hoffman is a contributing writer for RealGM and the founder of BallerBlogger.com. Questions or comments can be sent to ballerblogger@yahoo.com. You can also follow Brandon on twitter.
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