Lakers-Nuggets Game Two, First Half: Where A Late Alarm Clock Happens

One of the reasons why I haven't been a big believer in this Nugget team -- I picked the Bugs to beat them in the first round, and thought the Mavs would last longer, but still lose, in the second -- is that I just couldn't shake the idea that they were, well, the Nuggets. For the first time in the playoffs tonight, that was correct.

And then it wasn't.

The first quarter shows the Nuggets looking more like their team of old -- bad body language, technical fouls, defensive lapses on their own glass and the sense that they weren't really into it. The Lakers also got some pretty bad calls to go their way, and Chauncy Billups continued his bizarre and unexpected trouble at the free throw line. A few threes from bench players made the game closer than it looked, and a Sasha Vujacic miss in transition off a buzzer turnover kept it from seeming worse... but if the vibe of this game doesn't change and soon, the Lakers will win by 20 or more, especially if Carmelo Anthony continues to look ordinary. Lakers 31, Nuggets 23.

The second quarter begins with bench players and a careless Nugget turnover and non-board; the Lakers already have six offensive boards. The game got predictably sloppy with the shock troops, with Vujacic looking particularly inept. Pau Gasol is the best player on the floor during this stretch, but Kleiza makes another three to keep the game close, and then the game gets out of hand with good Laker passing leading to high percentage shooting, utterly flat Denver possessions, and a quick expansion of the lead to 14. There is nothing to recommend the Denver effort so far tonight, and to be honest with you, it's a bit of an effort to stay focused on the game -- if the Nuggets aren't really trying, then why should I really watch?

"How many times have we started off kind of soft and uninvolved?" says Karl to his team... and wow, do you really need to say anything else about why George doesn't have a ring?

'Melo picks it up a bit to get this a little closer, and rattles off 10 points of his own, but the Nug defense is just non-existent right now, so it's just trading points for the most part. In 20 minutes tonight, Kenyon Martin has no rebounds; Melo has all of one on defense... and then Anthony Carter lets a ball go through his hands, and the defense gives up a 50-foot pass to Andrew Bynum, alone under the rim, for the old-school three. I haven't seen this Nugget team in a while; I thought Billups made this team go away?

The Nugs pick it up a bit and another Kleiza three cuts it to 8, and parachute defense on Billups leads to another open 3, and voila -- an 8-0 run that cuts it to 5, despite the fact that that Nugs are still jawing at the stripes every chance they get. Kleiza's game is really what's keeping them in this. Two Billups makes cuts it to 3, and Gasol picks up his second over the back on an o-board attempt, and now it's the Lakers with ref issues. Another Kleiza make cuts it to one, amazingly. Odom makes from 20 on a fairly weak possession. Billups goes to the rack for no call as the Nugs ignore Anthony, and then Billups goes Globetrotter on the inbounds by bouncing it off Bryant's back and getting the layup. That's a 14-2 run to close the half, and Kobe's less than happy in his Lemur-mandated interview. Sadly, they don't ask him about that last confetti bucket play. Lakers 55, Nuggets 54, and it's anyone's game again. Hard to know what to make of this game right now.