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Bryant’s free throws give Lakers 105-103 win

By BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer May 20, 4:01 am EDT

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LOS ANGELES (AP)—In an inconsistent start to the Western Conference finals, Kobe Bryant(notes) was the steadying presence the Los Angeles Lakers needed.

He took over in the fourth quarter, finishing with 40 points, including six free throws in the final 30 seconds, to lift Los Angeles to a 105-103 win over the Denver Nuggets in the opener on Tuesday night after the Lakers trailed most of the game.

“Once I sensed we didn’t have the energy, I had to take it upon myself to lead by example,” he said. “It’s just part of my responsibilities to this team.”

He did it even with an injury.

Bryant had the right ring finger on his shooting hand taped after the game. He dislocated it against Cleveland in January and had to have it popped back in place Tuesday.

“He was the scoring opportunity for us,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “We had very little else going on. He muscled his way through.”

Pau Gasol(notes) added 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who were down by seven in the fourth quarter. Gasol’s two free throws tied the game for the last time at 99 before Bryant started his closing streak at the line, offsetting a 3-pointer by Chauncey Billups(notes) and a free throw by J.R. Smith(notes).

Carmelo Anthony(notes) scored 39 points and Billups added 18 for the Nuggets, who hadn’t played since taking care of Dallas in five games last Wednesday.

“There’s no moral victories in playoff basketball,” Denver coach George Karl said. “The next 48 hours are going to be difficult.”

Game 2 is Thursday at Staples Center. The Nuggets have lost 11 consecutive playoff games to the Lakers, including a first-round sweep last season.

Bryant, who was 9 for 9 from the line in the fourth quarter, made two for a 101-99 lead with 30 seconds left. Trevor Ariza(notes) stole the inbounds pass near midcourt and the Lakers were able to run the clock down to 10 seconds when Bryant made two more free throws.

“He threw the ball and gave me just enough air to go get it,” Ariza said of Anthony Carter(notes). “That’s all it took.”

Billups hit a 3-pointer to get the Nuggets to 103-102 with 5 seconds left, but then Anthony fouled Bryant, who made his final two foul shots.

“They have the best closer in the sport and we didn’t do enough,” Karl said.

Smith made one free throw with 3.2 seconds left and missed the second intentionally. Bryant grabbed the game’s last rebound.

“Any great player would love that moment, get the ball in their hands every time down the court and make something happen,” Anthony said.

The Lakers were back in action 48 hours after closing out Houston in seven games in the conference semifinals.

“We won that game on energy and gutting it out,” Jackson said. “They outmuscled us and put pressure on the passers. We talked about getting the game close enough to win it at the end. We got a couple stops that helped us.”

Denver led most of the game in its return to the conference finals for the first time in 24 years. But the Nuggets couldn’t stop Bryant over the final 6:48, when he scored 15 points, including seven straight to help the Lakers improve to 7-1 at home in the playoffs. They are 8-0 this postseason when scoring 100 points.

“You get used to greatness,” Lamar Odom(notes) said. “He was amazing. He wanted the ball. Kobe is always going to help you or bail you out more than he hurts you.”

The Lakers used a 9-0 run, including seven straight by Derek Fisher(notes), to go up 70-66. From there, though, the Nuggets ended the third quarter on a 10-4 run to lead 76-74. Billups had five consecutive points, including a free throw after a technical foul on Bryant, in the spurt.

Bryant has five technicals in the playoffs. “I won’t get another one,” he vowed.

The Nuggets took a 13-point lead in the opening quarter, but hurt themselves by going 12 of 21 from the line in the half. Billups, who missed three free throws in the first two playoff series combined, missed his first three of the game.

“We missed out on a great opportunity to steal this game,” he said. “We lose this game on our poor free throw shooting.”

Notes

Smith sprained his right knee and will be re-evaluated Wednesday. … The Nuggets fell to 2-3 on the road in the playoffs. … Denver F-G Linas Kleiza(notes) played despite a fracture on the tip of his right thumb.

Updated May 20, 4:01 am EDT
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683 Comments

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  1. greg r
    683. Posted by greg r Thu May 21 9:21pm EDT

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    4 fouls on Jones in 6 minutes.....only 1 was actually a foul....but you know, it's L.A...they need the help. Jackson must have put in the call and let em know that Kobe doesn't like Jones covering him. It was a fun year Nugs, but sadly you wont be able to beat this team and the refs. P.S. Nugs driving to the hole not getting any whistles...Lakers standing around getting calls....sad, really sad, at least make it look somewhat like the fix isnt on.
  2. Racer-X
    682. Posted by Racer-X Thu May 21 1:54pm EDT

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    hey mosjito where you at sucka? what'd I say about magic & DHow upsetting the cavs? I wanted to rub it in man, rub your nose in the poopoo. lololol On another note, all these kobe haters talking about how kobe is arrogant and all that, come on man, no matter how good he plays, there's no reason to be a drama queen on the court. Look at his behaviour on court, boy was he acting@#$%y all the way up until the last minutes of the game. Ha! I poopoo on you mosjito, I poopoo on None too. lololol
  3. Drei-kun
    681. Posted by Drei-kun Thu May 21 5:32am EDT

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    Kobe bandwagon addicts: All hail Kobe the God, the best, the immortal, we love you, muaaaahh... What a crap.
  4. sc
    680. Posted by sc Thu May 21 4:13am EDT

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    Barry you need to watch the game he was getting mugged all game long so stop hating loser.
  5. Mark
    679. Posted by Mark Wed May 20 10:51pm EDT

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    Racer, I agree...
  6. Racer-X
    678. Posted by Racer-X Wed May 20 10:28pm EDT

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    man I'm still laughing at some of these comments. "lakers stole game 1, they only won by 2 pts, carmelo punked kobe, it was all the refs' fault, it was bad freethrows, jr smith had an off night, billups had an off nite, carmelo should have ball hogged the last crucial minutes, if smith hit the 3pointers, blah blah blah..." listen to yourselves. If only this, if only that, they'll take game 2 yadda yadda yadda. you all are pulling every excuse out of the bag. As a western conf finals team, it is way more devastating psychologically to lose by 2 pts to a "gassed" lakers than to lose by say 20. I bet they barely slept last nite tossing & turning while replaying the game, each sack nugget thinking about what he could have done differently. Dawn brings realization to the sack nuggets that even though they are a better team than during reg season & before billups came aboard, they realize that they still not as good as the Lakers who played 75% level. I understand it's only natural for dumbazzes like NONE & MOSTITO to come out viscerally attacking Kobe & the Laker Nation. I expected it. What you will see on Thurs is the result of SELF-DOUBT on the sacknuggets. Their bird brain minds are not half as tough as the Lakers & they will shrivel up like grampz old nutsack.
  7. tsunami23
    677. Posted by tsunami23 Wed May 20 10:01pm EDT

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    Kobe was 4-12 in game 7 of the houston series. great closer.

    but last night he shot worse than melo.

    kobe is just great at FT with the game on the line.


    lakers struggling with a Nuggets team that missed 15 free bee's.

    2 point win ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzz
  8. robert a
    676. Posted by robert a Wed May 20 9:58pm EDT

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    Barry j (672), You gotta see better than those lame choker pseudo referees who can only react to the result of the play and the crowd noise but not see what actually went on. When Bryant tried to go over the screen, they grabbed him (1) by the fingers, dislocating his ring finger again, and (2) by the shoulder. He pushed through anyway, and when the guy let go Bryant's momentum shot him forward like a rubber band releasing into Martin. They even showed the replay from two angles. Watch the game, dude!!
  9. Brewnz
    675. Posted by Brewnz Wed May 20 7:59pm EDT

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    Yes Mojito, but for every shot he makes, there's a dumb@ss mistake that goes with it. Last night you got the mistakes with only a couple of shots. Talented guy, but still green (ftr, Kobe did the same when he made 4 airballs his rookie year to lose to Utah in the clincher). Christina B, are you another that is hoping the Cavs can easily trounce the Lakers? If they do, it would be the first time this season. However, they REALLY need to worry about Orlando (5-2 against the Lebrons from '07-'09) Why the pseudo Cleveland bandwagoneers just assume they'll be in the finals is beyond me. This could easily be Denver-Orlando, so fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride instead of hating so much.
  10. Phil T
    674. Posted by Phil T Wed May 20 7:46pm EDT

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    Jagger your right about letting everybody read marcus8706 post again. Im a true Laker fan, watched them from the times of Magic Johnson to the times of Cedric Ceballos and Doug Christy (remember those times,wernt as good),Shaq times to now and so on into the future til da day i die! Kobe is the man, best closer in the sport, even coach Carl says it. Denver is a lil raddled now, have lost 11 CONSECUTIVE playoff games to the Lakers! That stuff you cant erase in your head if you a Denver fan or player lol! Lebron is a great player but will have trouble with Orlando, we will see what he gots in this series, for him to be a legend like Kobe will, he gotta get a few rings. Good luck dude lol! Lakers all the way!!!!
  11. Joel
    673. Posted by Joel Wed May 20 7:45pm EDT

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    Mojito... I've been reading all of ur postings... do you read what you write.. Ur clearly a dumbass... The Lakers had an okay game... Nuggets had a great game and still lost... They cant smell @#$% but Kobe's Ass in their Face... Face It.. Lakers in 5 Games... Lakers will make Alot of Adjustments.. Carmelo probably had his best Post-Season Game of His Career... But I Know his good but no that good...
  12. Joel
    672. Posted by Joel Wed May 20 7:36pm EDT

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    "First, let's get something straight. You're going to hear from every perspective (fans, haters, pundits, bloggers) that the Lakers "stole" this game. That is just not true. In fact, it makes about as much sense as crowning the Lakers champions before the postseason even began. Both are foolish overreactions to early results. When it comes to the playoffs, there's a reason they play the games; when it comes to a single game, there's a reason they play all 48 minutes. The Lakers didn't "steal" this game. To suggest that they did is to imply that the Nuggets already "owned" it. What the Lakers did was play better over the full 48 minutes. Sure, they had some rough stretches, and there were times when it seemed the Lakers would drop another series opener at home. Fortunately, the game didn't end near the end of the first quarter, or shortly after the start of the fourth. It ended after 48 minutes, and conveniently (though surely not coincidentally), the Lakers played a game that put them ahead not somewhere in the middle, but at the end of those 48 minutes. With that out of the way, there's a lot that we can take from this game. Plenty of negatives, and plenty of positives, as well. Perhaps that very fact, in itself, should be encouraging to Lakers fans: In a game that contained far more negatives for the Lakers than they (or we) would have preferred, the Nuggets were never able to pull away, and the Lakers still won. This is a recurring theme in Lakerland, and in such a situation, the fans tend to point out that the Lakers aren't likely to continue playing so poorly. So far, they've been right. The Lakers will be better in most of the games to come, and that does not bode well for Denver." - Article Online... I Agree with this guy 110%
  13. Barry J
    671. Posted by Barry J Wed May 20 7:28pm EDT

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    Ok I haven't seen a single article about this but what the hell was that Kobe pulled on Kenyon Martin. He is hands down one of, if not THE dirtiest player in the NBA. He dropped his shoulder right into his stomach to take him out. It was a punk cheap shot. If you are a tough guy hit him and get it over with. I hope his ACL gets torn so he can't play the rest of the series. He complains on the offensive end about being fouled and then turns around and does the same thing on the defensive end. If you are going to play physical expect it on the other end and man up.

    MN Lakers you're insane. I am a Bulls fan and trust me there aren't enough offensive possessions for Eric and Ben. I also live in Bloomington so I was here for the EG hype. EG is hands down a better shooter and will be a huge star in the NBA. You will need that inside outside threat. They need Griffen. They're morons if they don't take Blake.
  14. dredog!
    670. Posted by dredog! Wed May 20 7:21pm EDT

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    I give them their due respect. they came together and made some great plays down the stretch, but Denver's rust showed because they kept letting the Lakers back in it, wich is something I did not see them do with Dallas or New Orleans. Their defensive intensity was not there, and thats where the rust showed. I do like the Lakers, and I would love to see a Kobe/Lebron finals but I wont believe till I see the lakers protect their home court. The game was too close for the Lakers, to call that a win. They gotta be saying if Billups or Smith or both had a better game and made their freethrows, it would have been a Denver blowout. I am just not convinced that by the way both teams have been playing of late that LA is the better team. Uncharacteristic for Billups to miss freethrows and shoot 30%
  15. Jagger
    669. Posted by Jagger Wed May 20 7:19pm EDT

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    THIS GUY SAID IT BEST AND ALL YOU SHOULD LISTEN:. Posted by marcus8706 Wed May 20 6:09pm EDT Report Abuse
    Laker fan here... Great game last night.. Didnt know Melo was that good... But Kobe showed why he is still the best... He put that team on his back and took them to victory.. Who cares if the lakers win by 2 points or 40(even though the 3 by Billups at the end was not supposed to count) its still a win.. Why are there so many Laker haters? Is it because they have the best player or is it because they win so often.. or is it because their arrogant? Phil and Kobe have a right to be arrogant after everything they have achieved... If Denver had won by 2 Nugget fans would be thrilled.. The question why is Lebron so arrogant.. What has he proved other then he has everybody thats not a Laker fan on his nuts... He is a great player but can the guy actually win a couple of championships first before people get on there knees in front of him...
  16. MN lakers
    668. Posted by MN lakers Wed May 20 6:59pm EDT

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    If I were clippers GM.. I will make a trade to get Ben Gordon from Chicago right now cause he is free agent so he could sign and trade.
    It would be nice to have a back court Eric and Ben Gorden with Griffin the lottery pick this year along with Randolp and kaman or Camby in the Center.
  17. Christina
    667. Posted by Christina Wed May 20 6:54pm EDT

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    please.......even if they somehow make it past the nuggets....the cavs will make them look like the lousy team they truly are........
  18. aleks79
    666. Posted by aleks79 Wed May 20 6:28pm EDT

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    ahahhaah it dont matter if we win by 40 30 20 10..i'll take a 1 point win every game.. lmfao @ u mc nugget fans just wait cuz u aint seen the real laker team yet and thats that we had a bad game and u guys look like u had your best game and it wasn't enough ahaha good luck maybe next year lakers in 5!!!!!!!!!!!
  19. JohnnyBlue
    665. Posted by JohnnyBlue Wed May 20 6:23pm EDT

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    Just a bruise D. Fish. Get ready for the 3s to start rainin. U guys were so lucky he had a bad game. Dont bank on it next game. And if catches fire the points go up quick.
  20. JohnnyBlue
    664. Posted by JohnnyBlue Wed May 20 6:20pm EDT

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    D. Fish i will give credit where it is due (and this is a rare when talkin about this guy). All props to Kobe Bryant for strappin his team on his shoulders and willing a win for the Lakers. But the Nuggs are for real. And theyre are gonna come harder next game. They can smell it. They can taste it. They know they got the better team. Lakers got lucky in game 1. Game 2 they will get rolled.
  21. Brewnz
    663. Posted by Brewnz Wed May 20 6:16pm EDT

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    Mojito, are you certain that J.R. is fully recovered from hyperextending his knee? For someone as athletic as him, I think it will have some effect. I don't expect a Laker letdown until possibly game 3...game 4 definitely if the Lakes take #3.
  22. JohnnyBlue
    662. Posted by JohnnyBlue Wed May 20 6:16pm EDT

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    Its comin Marcus. Its comin. LBJ is gonna sweep on thru. Too bad the brooms will be in Denver and not LA. No go back upstairs. Stranjay is calling u.
  23. Brewnz
    661. Posted by Brewnz Wed May 20 6:13pm EDT

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    dredog!, all due respect, but the Nuggets came out shooting 56% in the first quarter. I wouldn't exactly call that "rust". They looked good, they just didn't make plays down the stretch, while players like Fisher, Ariza and Farmar did. The Lakers deserve some credit for recovering from the blow and getting in position to win it.
  24. JohnnyBlue
    660. Posted by JohnnyBlue Wed May 20 6:13pm EDT

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    C'mon Jamiel. U know that was a max effort by ur squad, theyre just gassed. Dumb-aces laid eggs against the Houston B-team and wound up having to 7. Gettin in up for a game 7 is no joke. Especially for the flacid one. It takes alot out of u. Game 1s take up a lot of juice too. Game 2 the Lakers will gas again and the Nuggs will roll you. FTs will be better, JR will go off, my man Melo punkin the mambo. U know it Jamiel. U feel it comin. The big Laker let down is comin.
  25. <i>marcus8706</i>
    659. Posted by marcus8706 Wed May 20 6:09pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Laker fan here... Great game last night.. Didnt know Melo was that good... But Kobe showed why he is still the best... He put that team on his back and took them to victory.. Who cares if the lakers win by 2 points or 40(even though the 3 by Billups at the end was not supposed to count) its still a win.. Why are there so many Laker haters? Is it because they have the best player or is it because they win so often.. or is it because their arrogant? Phil and Kobe have a right to be arrogant after everything they have achieved... If Denver had won by 2 Nugget fans would be thrilled.. The question why is Lebron so arrogant.. What has he proved other then he has everybody thats not a Laker fan on his nuts... He is a great player but can the guy actually win a couple of championships first before people get on there knees in front of him...
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Top Performers

 Top Performers
 Denver
C. Anthony Carmelo Anthony
14-20,  39 Pts
6 Rebs, 4 Assists
 LA Lakers
K. Bryant Kobe Bryant
13-28,  40 Pts
6 Rebs, 4 Assists

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