2009 NBA Playoffs Los Angeles Lakers (3-2) vs. Denver Nuggets (2-3) Game 6: Is Nike and the NBA going to have to change their puppets if neither Cleveland Cavaliers nor the Los Angeles Lakers make it to the 2009 NBA Finals?
Going into this, 2009 NBA Playoffs Game 6, NBA oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com have listed the Denver Nuggets [-5½ or -240 ML] to force this series to a definitive Game 7 by beating the Los Angeles Lakers [+5½ or +200 ML]
tonight at the Pepsi Center.
The way everyone is talking, you would think Los Angeles is facing elimination in Game 6. "For most of the series, we outplayed them for most stretches of the game,” Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups said of the Lakers. "We just couldn't get over the hump in the fourth quarter in a few different situations.”
Even with all their confidence, the Nuggets have shown to be short-tempered and careless about giving away points in key situations, as they’ve committed 11 technical fouls in this series alone.
"You guys are almost saying you've got to have savvy and poise to be a championship team,” George Karl said on Thursday. "I mean, you think the Detroit Pistons have the poise that the San Antonio Spurs have? No, I mean there's a different way of handling emotional, passionate, intense players. We have some guys who are emotional. Maybe a little too emotional. But for me, I'm not going to tell them to stop that because I think that stops them from becoming a competitor… Right now, we're competing on the best stage on a pretty good level. I think the Lakers know we're there."
On the other hand, the Lakers have given all the credit in the world to the Nuggets firepower. Too much credit? "We've had stretches where we've played excellent defense,” Kobe Bryant said, "but the competition we're facing with this Denver Nuggets team is unlike anything we've ever seen. They have so many scorers, they have an inside presence. So … I'm very proud of how we performed in that stretch.”
