The Los Angeles Lakers could not come back against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center tonight, going down 99-84. It's likely a game the Lakers lost after Denver pulled away in the late first and start of the second quarter. LA outscored Denver in the third quarter, but there was too much deficit to overcome in not enough time, leading to desperation play.
Andrew Bynum recovered from his slow start, earning a double double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Kobe Bryant had 22 points and Pau Gasol had 16. Ramon Sessions kicked in 15 points in his NBA playoff road game debut. The issue was the rest of the team, as the players not mentioned combined for 13 points.
As the Lakers increased desperation, the three point shots became a crutch. Unfortunately for LA, they weren't going in. The Lakers were 6-25 from behind the arc tonight, with Bryant a particularly egregious 3-10. Matt Barnes went 1-5, Steve Blake 1-4.
The Lakers were able to get the lead down to as much as 8 points, but there wasn't much hope of cutting it down to within striking distance. The Lakers were out rebounded by ten, and had more than twice as many turnovers as Denver. The Lakers took 25 fewer shots that Denver, who didn't shoot that much better than LA, but simply had far more opportunities.
For more recap from this game, check out Silver Screen and Roll.