After a dominating game 1 performance by the Los Angeles Lakers in this opening round of the Western Conference Playoffs, George Carl and the Denver Nuggets will try to steal home court advantage with a win Wednesday night at the Staples Center in LA. But in order to pull off such upset, they’ll have to make some serious adjustments, especially on the defensive end. SBGglobal has the Los Angeles Lakers -7.5 favorites at home against the Denver Nuggets and the O/U set at 229 total pts.
Pau Gasol had never won a game in the postseason, going into Sunday afternoon; he was 0-12 for his career in the playoffs (with the Grizzlies). However in his debut in Tensile Town, no one could outshine the great Spaniard. He conclusively quieted all the critics that said he couldn’t perform at a high level in a playoff game. Gasol had a career-high 36 points in 14-for-20 (70%) shooting, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. The Olympic gold medallist also pulled down 16 rebounds, dished out 8 assists, and blocked 3 shots in 44 minutes of playing time.
When asked about that (in his post-game press conference), Kobe Bryant said of Gasol’s man-size effort: “ I knew he could perform at a high level… this just ain’t Memphis.”
Kobe’s playing time was limited (37 mins.) due to foul trouble throughout most of the evening. But when the game was on the line in the all-important forth quarter, KB24 once again rose to the occasion. “The Black Mamba” took the Nuggets out of contention, racking up 18 points in the final stanza, including 13 in the final 5:42. He finished with 32 points (13/14 FT), 3 boards, and 2 blocked shots.
The Los Angeles Lakers scored 128 total points: Odom pitched in with 17, Walton came in strong to score 16, and Sasha Vujacic contributed with 8 from the bench.
NBA Prediction: LAL -7.5
