So what did you guys think? LA played sloppy, but they did play with some heart. I wouldn't have felt bad if they had lost. Mello was on fire. This series should be pretty entertaining.

 

I still don't understand why they just don't mail Lebron his first ring. The playoffs seem like a formality at this point.

 

Overall I was impressed with the Laker effort. They won, despite not brining their best effort, and Kobe had a game he needed to have to show his team mates and Denver that he is on a mission.

It seems to be the fashionable thing to pick Denver in this series due to the inconsistent play of the Lakers so far in the playoffs. One very important thing to remember is matchups. The Lakers match up very well with Denver. Denver does not match up well with the Lakers. Denver does not have a quick point guard to exploit the Laker weakness at that position. Denver's top scoring threats are very guard-able by Kobe and Ariza. Denver does not have the inside muscle to beat up Gasol, Bynum and Odom. The Lakers have too much length and skill for the Nuggets. The Nuggets do not have a defensive stopper to put on Kobe (like Battier/Artest). The Nuggets do not have a super quick point guard (like Brooks) to disrupt the Laker's defensive strategy. The Nuggets do not have the low center of gravity, strong legged, inside players (like Scola/Landrey/Hayes) to knock the long and lean Laker front line off balance and keep them out of the key.

In watching the game last night, I saw some guts and resolve in the Lakers, and I saw a bunch of shell-shocked, over confident, whining Nugget players. I get the feeling that the Nugget players were starting to believe what everyone was saying about their ability to take down the Lakers, and that many of them didn't think the Lakers were going to be as good as they really are. The Nuggets are full of some loose-cannon, head-case type players that are really going to put Billup's leadership skills to the task.

Going into last night's game, I would have predicted Lakers in 6 or 7. After watching last night's game, I am going with the Lakers in 5 or 6

 

I wouldn't be so quick to hand out rings just yet Beating up on a terrible Detroit team that had already mailed in the season, and the woeful Atlanta Hawks is one thing. Taking down Orlando and then the Lakers will be a whole different matter altogether.

 

There will be some 'clash of personalities', I think. Can see Bidman and Odom getting into it!

 

Wow... Been watching way too much ESPN i See...

Seriously, what has LeBron done to say that the championship should be handed to him?? Like BigE mentioned, big deal, they swept two depleted teams in the LEastern conference that were sub .500 or close to it already... and wouldn't have even made the playoffs in the West.

The Cavs are finally playing a solid team tonight, lets wait and see before you start mailing out rings.

I'm not buying into the hype, and I wont crown Lebron anything until he actually earns it. Unlike the Logo, who I lost a great deal of respect for after his latest comments.

As far as the Lakers go, they didn't play a great game... and still won. That's encouraging. Especially since the Nuggets played pretty well. We'll see how Thursday goes.

Should be a great series, but I'm calling lakers in 6.

 

I think Denver played much better last night than they normally do. If they come back down to earth, I like the lakers in 4 or 5.

 

OK, Laker homers....I mean, fans. Last night was a good gut check game (strange to say that when it's only Game 1 of a potential 7 game series, but that's what happens when the supposed best team in the NBA plays with near lethargy for much of the playoffs thus far), and they got the victory. Mission accomplished for the most part.

What I'd be troubled about is again the infuriating inability for the Lakers to get off to a decent start. You can only come from behind so many times in the playoffs before you start to lose those rallies, and it gets more difficult to do so as you go deeper in the playoffs. The Lakers couldn't rally when they were down to the Rockets during a couple of games in the last series. The Cavaliers are a far stronger team than the Rockets. Fall behind to the Cavs, and I highly doubt the Lakers can make up the deficit.

Remember too that the Lakers bench won last night's game. We've yet to see the Lakers bench have a sustained positive impact over the course of a series, much less even a couple games in a row. Which 2nd string team shows up tomorrow night will likely decide who wins game 2. Good LA bench = LA win. Bad LA bench = Denver stealing a win and the home court advantage.

And remember also that Denver gave away Game 1 with some bonehead plays/fouls and the worst coaching move in the playoffs (Karl was an idiot for letting Anthony Carter inbound the ball in a situation where he has to remain stationary, and when you know the Lakers were salivating at putting Lamar Odom on him). The refs also helped the Lakers with a few kind calls.

This series will go a minimum of 6 games IMO.

 

A few kind calls!!!

Your giving the Lakers no credit (thats a surprise), and saying the refs handed them that game?

Whatever... I'm not gonna comment on the Shit officiating that exists in this league. Sure dude, the ref's had it in for the Nuggets...

Oh yeah, who had more ft attempts?

 

Many more such plays/fouls and coaching moves can be expected from Denver.

It will be interesting to see how Denver responds to game 1 and comes out in game 2. The Lakers did not play very well and yet they still won that game. Billups is a great leader, but I do not honestly think he is a good enough leader (no one in the NBA is) to handle the collective group of loose cannons Denver has on its team, especially in key positions.

The look on the Denver player's faces at the end of the game was one of finger pointing, blame shifting and disbelief. When Houston lost, they had a look of steely-resolve and ownership of their own mistakes. Even Artest was on his best behavior. Its only a matter of time before the ticking time bomb that is K-mart blows up.......