<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">LOS ANGELES, Nov. 6 (Ticker) -- This time, Chris Mihm got the better of Marcus Camby. Mihm scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Kobe Bryant had 37 points as the Los Angeles Lakers topped the Denver Nuggets for the second time in five days with a 112-92 triumph. NBA TV highlights from Nuggets-Lakers: Play Although the Lakers were able to steal an overtime win Wednesday at Denver on Bryant's jumper in the waning seconds, Mihm was outplayed underneath by the more athletic Camby. Mihm was held to just seven points on 1-of-5 shooting and two rebounds while Camby paced the Nuggets with 19 points and 14 boards. Bryant's shot made it a moot point, but Mihm's efforts provided the difference in this one. The 7-foot Mihm had a total of 10 points and three rebounds in his first two games but had 14 and nine by halftime Sunday when Los Angeles grabbed a 53-44 lead. Bryant had 17 points at that point and prevented any late drama by scoring 12 in the fourth. On his 26th birthday, Lamar Odom added 20 points for the Lakers, who finished on a 16-7 run to seal their seventh straight home win against Denver. Los Angeles has won 17 of the last 18 meetings here. Bryant started the closing surge with a layup, two free throws and an alley-oop from Smush Parker to make it 102-85 with 4:11 left. Camby was limited to nine points, including just three after the break, and seven boards. Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points and Andre Miller 20 for the Nuggets, who committed 13 turnovers in the first half and never got closer than six points in the second. </div> Source Box score Sounds like they had a great game, cant wait to see it.
I may be crazy talking only about the first three games of the season, but I've been really impressed with the Lakers play so far. Beating the Denver Nuggets in their season opener on the road, fighting back against the Phoenix Suns and making it a game late in the 4th quarter rallying from a double-digit deficit, and as recently as last night, destroying the Nuggets in a 20 point blowout, I'm thinking high hopes for the season. It's one thing to beat teams any team's supposed to beat, but to simply kill a healthy, playoff-caliber club, that should increase our confidence levels, and go out and make some noise when in fact people aren't expecting us to do anything.
Last night was an impressive win. The Lakers made it a point early to get Kwame and Mihm involved in the offense. Mihm responded with a 20 point / 13 rebound effort and didn't get into foul trouble, plus he made 8 out of 10 free throws. Now if only Mihm could have similar performances the rest of the season. So far the Lakers have had the Nuggets number this season and are using their size advantage to negate Denver's speed. The next 4 games are on the road now, so this road trip should be a nice test to see how the team can handle the grind.
Atlanta should be a cake walk. Minnesota will be a little tough. Memphis will be tough and Philly will be a little hard as well. If the Lakers put on a good performance I say they come home winning 3 out of 4 games.
