Well, well, well, well. lol. The pretending is put aside and AI starts at PG and Carter does not start. Naturally, the Nuggets are off to a far better start than in game 1. I'd say "another river has been crossed in the quest for the ring," but I figure Karl will go back to starting Carter again before the series is out. So I won't say it.
But Karl is always operating from deep in the hole. He partially corrects one of his mistakes, but now he has a new mistake going that he will stubbornly refuse to correct even if the Nuggets lose 4 games to 0, namely, having Martin guard Kobe Bryant. Tonight Bryant is already 5/7 while being guarded by Martin. Yeah right, just because Martin is quick and has good instincts, you put him on Bryant. You put a PF on a guard. Yeah right George, anything you say. You have won plenty of championships doing it your way, so you must be right.
Well, Kobe Bryant can't be stopped but the Nuggets nevertheless are even after one quarter, due to the much better starting lineup and due to AI hitting a few shots. The Nuggets have a better chance of winning a game against the Lakers if they DON'T get overly paranoid about Bryant. The Nuggets have all kinds of offensive weapons with which they can keep up with Kobe Bryant, so to get overly paranoid about Bryant, (and putting Martin on Bryant means the Nuggets are overly paranoid), is stupid.
Wow, GK has called 2 timeouts at precisely the right time as of early in the 2nd quarter, amazing. Could it be that he actually thinks the Nuggets can win this game? Probably not.
The Nuggets 3-point game is non-existent, Carmelo Anthony is not getting the ball enough, and the Nuggets are in a scoring drought. (Yes, all of those 3 are connected to some extent.) Also, what else is new?
On the one hand the Nuggets can't possibly beat the Lakers in a series without Nene. On the other hand, it's typical of the snake bitten Nuggets franchise that Nene finally plays in game 2 of the playoffs, after missing most of the season. Nene is the kind of player who gets a lot better with a lot of playing time, precisely what he didn't get this year. So for the Nuggets, it seems that the good news is never enough to make up for all the damage from the bad news.
Derek Fisher is not a high scoring PG. So Kobe Bryant could safely be contained by Iverson and Smith working in tandem to do that. Or Yakhouba Diawara and Iverson. Or Yak and Smith. Martin alone doesn't do it, sorry.
Damn, as soon as I say that, Kleiza hurts his elbow at the offensive end on a drive. Kleiza has clearly come correct to play in the playoffs for the first time ever.
The Nuggets' lack of any plays and the lack of any 3-point shooting are two factors that take a heavy toll in the 2nd quarter. The Lakers are up by 10 at the half and everyone is yawning about this series, thinking now that the Nuggets are badly overmatched. If the Nuggets were a smart team, they would not be badly overmatched. The Lakers are a smart team, unfortunately. In the West, the talent is surprisingly evenly distributed. The basketball know-how is not evenly distributed. Byron Scott has had his high scoring point guard starting the whole season long at the position. George Karl finally started his high scoring PG at PG in game two of the playoff series. When was GK wrong? Was he wrong when he wasn't starting AI at PG all season long, or is he wrong tonight? He was wrong all season long. But the funny thing is, even if he was just wrong tonight, he would still be caught in a major error, whereas Byron Scott has definitely not made any errors of that magnitude all season long.
Reminder to self for the game report (when it finally gets done in August lol): Compare the number of different starting lineups between the different coaches, and especially look to see how many coaches changed starting lineups for or during the playoffs.
More Half-Time Notes: Nuggets 0/10 on threes; the Nuggets having no 3-point shooting in critical playoff games is about as likely as the sun coming up in the morning. Lakers 6/12 on threes. Assists: Lakers 17 Nuggets 5. Ouch, Iverson better find some open men in the 2nd half or he's going to make it hard on me. Is Iverson responsible at PG if he has seldom been the designated PG during the season. Mostly yes, because he is definitely a combo guard, and he has definitely been playing both positions at once during games. So he needs to step it up, win or lose.
Iverson makes up for a poorly selected three and for a selfish charge by getting a great steal at the other end. Kleiza goes in for the slam, for 68-67 Nuggets. Phil Jackson lumbers off his seat and begs for a timeout. One way or another, the Nuggets ARE much better with AI at PG and Carter on the bench. Even if it doesn't play out exactly as you might think it would.
As dumb as they are, the Nuggets can sometimes look even dumber than they are. As the clock runs out in the third, they leave Vujacic in the right corner all alone, as if he is invisible and no one sees him, allowing the Lakers advantage over the Nuggets in 3-point shooting to become like the grand canyon. Vujacic might as well have been the only one on the court. Vujacic doesn't come from the ghetto either, I don't think. 89-79 Lakers after 3 quarters, 1st and 3rd quarters were even.
Early in the 4th, Smitty makes a couple of threes, but the Lakers are still miles ahead in 3-point shooting.
