Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers, Game 5 (series tied 2-2)
The Western Conference Finals are now a best-of-three, with both teams realizing how important tonight’s Game 5 in Los Angeles is.
The Lakers have opened as 6-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
Denver coach George Karl knows it’s much easier to win a Game 5 on the opponent’s home court than a Game 7.
“My focus to them is [tonight's] game is our must-win game, almost as much as Game 4 was,” Karl said.
“We right now have, I think, made somewhat of a move. The challenge then is [for the Lakers] to try to figure us out a little bit more.”
Things got a little more physical in Game 4, with Denver’s Dahntay Jones tripping Kobe Bryant clearly intentionally and L.A.’s Andrew Bynum putting a smack on Denver’s Chris Andersen.
Jones was assessed a flagrant foul 1 but not suspended for purposely tripping Bryant in the third quarter of Monday’s game, and Bynum’s fourth-quarter flagrant foul was reduced to a personal foul. So that’s double good news for L.A., as one more flagrant would mean Jones would have to sit out a game.
The problem for L.A. in this series is that the Lakers are clearly fatigued, while Denver has much more energy. For example, the Lakers were crushed on the boards in Game 4, 58-40, and outscored in the paint, 52-34.
The Nuggets rested for a week after putting Dallas away in five games in the conference semifinals. The Lakers, meanwhile, were pushed to seven games last round against Houston.
Bryant has been great as usual, scoring more than 36 points a game in this series, although even he admitted he was a bit fatigued at the end of Game 4. Gasol has seven straight double doubles and had 21 points and 10 rebounds in Game 4 but was angry he didn’t get more than four shots in the second half. So he spoke out, which is very unusual for him.
“I just want to go with what’s effective, what works out there and what’s been working for us and what’s been a strength of ours,” said Gasol, averaging 17.8 points on 62.5% shooting this series. “I think we should explore that a little more.”
Look for that to be the case with Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza clearly hampered by injuries for L.A. Combined they totaled eight points in Game 4. And Andrew Bynum continues to be very inconsistent.
As for Denver, it won Game 2 in L.A. after pretty much blowing Game 1. Carmelo Anthony has slowed down since Game 2 because of various injuries. He had a stomach virus and injured his ankle in Game 4, shooting just 3-for-16 from the field with 15 points. Melo is 1-for-16 in the past three games from behind the 3-point line.
“I’m fine,” said Anthony. “I’m not worried about me.”
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