LAKERS MAUL NUGGETS, WILL MEET MAGIC IN NBA FINALS

The Denver Nuggets never really knew what hit them.  The last thing they remember is heading to Los Angeles for game 5 in a hard fought series tied at 2 games apiece.  The Lakers won game five, but Denver was confident returning home for the next game.  Before they knew it, their season was over.  The Lakers jumped on the Nuggets from the opening whistle and never let up en route to a 119-92 victory that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated.  The Lakers now advance to the NBA Finals for the second straight year and for an NBA best 30^th time in franchise history.

Sports bettors who took the 5’ points with the Lakers were rewarded with the outright victory, while the combined 211 points just managed to exceed the posted total of 209.  It was only the Lakers’ second OVER in their past ten games,  and a defensive struggle could ensue in the NBA finals as well—8 of the last twelve meetings between the Lakers and Magic in Los Angeles have gone UNDER (8 UN, 3 OV, 1 push).  While Los Angeles has won 10 of 12 of these games outright they hold a slim 6-5-1 ATS advantage. 

The Lakers led by 5 after the first quarter, 13 at halftime and 16 after three quarters before they started to pull away in the final period.  Los Angeles shot a scorching 57.3% from the field, while Denver could only muster 43.8%.  Kobe Bryant led all scorers with his ‘double/double’ of 35 points and 10 assists, while Pau Gasol mirrored his feat with 20 points and 12 boards.  Lamar Odom continued his solid play off the bench with 20 points and 8 rebounds, while Trevor Ariza (17 points) and Luke Walton (10 points) also scored in double digits for the Lakers. 

Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 25 points, while reserve J.R. Smith added 24 in the losing cause.  Kenyon Martin (13 points) and Chauncey Billups (10 points) were the only other Nuggets to post double digit scoring totals.  George Karl has the dubious distinction of having never won a playoff series after losing the first game, dropping to 0-10 in that spot. 

After the game, Kobe Bryant said that his teammates were looking forward to the opportunity to redeem themselves for last year’s finals loss:

"Now we're in a place where we didn't get the job accomplished last year. Hopefully we will this time. "It's been a physical march all the way back to the finals, every series has been tough.”

"We had the effort and the execution to match. It took us a while to really get a feel for the team, just how to take advantage of the defense. We saw something how they were playing us and we executed extremely well."

Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson will get his shot at a record 10^th NBA title.  He gave his team a bit of tepid praise after the game:

"We saved our best game for last here, or maybe we caught our opponent a little bit off stride.”

The NBA Finals will get underway on Thursday night in Los Angeles, with game two set for Sunday. The series will then head to Orlando for Tuesday’s game three.  The Lakers have been installed as a -6 game one favorite, with the total posted at 205’ OV -110.