MySports Today

The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 106-103 at the Staples Center on Thursday night.  The series is now tied at 1, and the 2 teams will face off again on Saturday night at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Carmelo Anthony led the way for the Nuggets with 34 points and 9 rebounds.  Chauncey Billups scored 27 points in 43 minutes.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 32 points, while Pau Gasol scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.  Lamar Odom had a solid night in a reserve role – 10 points and 9 rebounds in just 29 minutes – but it wasn’t enough.  Holding the ball with the final shot down by 3 points, Head Coach Phil Jackson opted to keep the ball out of his star’s hands.  Instead of going to Kobe – whom Jackson felt would get fouled by the Nuggets to force 2 free throws – Jackson drew up a play for point guard Derek Fisher who missed a 3-point shot that would have tied the game.

This is shaping up to be a great series out west.  The Lakers will need to find a way to win at least 1 game in Denver if they don’t want to face an almost unsurmountable 3-1 deficit.  We’ll keep you posted…

The NBA Conference Finals are finally set – the Denver Nuggets (Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups) v. the Los Angeles Lakers (Kobe Bryant) and the Orlando Magic (Dwight Howard) v. the Cleveland Cavaliers (Lebron James).

Both Game 7’s on Sunday were disappointing lopsided victories for the Lakers and Magic.  The Lakers rushed out to a 51-31 halftime lead and never let off the gas pedal, cruising to a 89-70 win.  Pau Gasol had a monster double-double – 21 points and 18 boards, while Kobe Bryant scored 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.

The Magic led the Celtics by 7 at halftime and 5 at the end of the 3 quarters, and most felt that the final collapse would occur in the 4th quarter as it had so many times this post-season.  The Magic, however, answered the call, crushing the Celtics 35-21 in the 4th quarter to run away with a 101-82 victory in Boston.  Hedo Turkoglu knocked in 25 points, while Dwight Howard finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds.  Ray Allen led the Celtics with 23 points, while Rajon Rondo had a solid game with 10 points, 10 assists and 6 boards.  But Paul Pierce only scored 16 points and Glen “Big Baby” Davis socred 13 points and grabbed only 4 rebounds.

The Nuggets play against the Lakers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday night at 9PM Eastern Standard Time.  The game will be televised on ESPN.   The Magic play against the Cavaliers at the Quicken Loans Center in Cleveland on Wednesday night at 8:30PM Eastern Standard Time.  The game will be televised on TNT.

Can it get any worse?  The New Orleans Hornets suffered the worst home-loss in NBA history at the hands of the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.  The Nuggets won the game 121-63 to take a convincing 3-1 lead in the best of 7 series.  The Nuggets took a 36-15 1st quarter lead and never let up.  The Nuggets outscored the Hornets in each quarter, holding the Hornets to just 11 and 13 points, respectively in the 3rd and 4th quarters.  Talk about packing it in and getting ready for the off-season.  What a joke of a performance by the the Hornets, especially during the playoffs.

The Nuggets had 7 players with double-digit scoring.  Carmelo Anthony led the way with 26 points points, while Chauncey Billups scored 17 points and dished out 8 assists.  The Nuggets shot 56.7% from the floor, including 10 of 20 from 3-point range.

On the other side of the ball, the Hornets shot just 31.5% from the field, including 2 of 15 from 3-point range.  Only 3 players scored in double digits for the Hornets – David West (14 points); Peja Stojakovic (10 points) and James Posey (12 points).  The Hornets franchise player – Chris Paul – played one of the worst games of his career – just 4 points on 2 of 7 shooting, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 turnovers.

Commissioner David Stern and the NBA should just cancel the rest of the series – why even bother playing Game 5 in Denver to “officially” end the series.  This series was over 12 minutes after the Hornets took the court on Monday night.  The Hornets should be ashamed of themselves.