Lakers 107, Nuggets 101
April 28th, 2008, 10:26 pm · Post a Comment · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM
DENVER – Just as they did in the third quarter of Game 3, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Luke Walton made the big plays in the fourth quarter of Game 4 – lifting the Lakers to win the first close game of the series that ended in a Lakers sweep.
Bryant hit four consecutive shots down the stretch as the Lakers overcame some big Bryant mistakes against hot-shooting Nuggets reserve J.R. Smith. With the Lakers ahead, 97-96, Fisher and Walton combined to steal the ball from Carmelo Anthony at one end – and Walton buried and unguarded 3-pointer from the corner at the other for a 100-96 lead with 2:37 left.
Bryant wound up with 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists. He hit the clincher and broke out his jet-plane-style exit after an eight-foot running bank shot for a 103-98 lead with 40.7 seconds left. Anthony (21 points, three assists) never got a sustained run going and fouled out with 1:19 to play with a weak grab at Bryant. Smith delivered 26 points in Denver’s season finale.
SPACE CADET
When Phil Jackson tried to talk through Vladimir Radmanovic’s current struggles, Radmanovic said he’d rather talk about them after the season. Radmanovic missed his first seven shots before making a layup.
EYE ON ANTHONY
After his much-publicized comment about the Nuggets quitting in Game 3, Anthony came out playing aggressive man-to-man defense but soon started to think offense only – surprising Pau Gasol late in the first quarter by never even starting to make the proper defensive rotation to keep Gasol from striding into a dunk.
BAD FOUL
After Anthony picked up a bad fourth foul with 8:01 left in the third quarter, Lamar Odom countered by picking up a bad fourth foul with 7:50 left. Anthony stayed in the game, but Jackson pulled Odom – and Denver scored the next six points.
NEXT
Lakers vs. Utah-Houston winner in second round of Western Conference playoffs.
