Lakers vs. Denver Game 3

For the 5th straight day, the NBA Conference Finals went down to the wire. So did Game 3 of Lakers-Denver in Western Conference Finals up in Denver. The elevation is over 5,000 feet and it was tough for the Lakers to play for a full 48 minutes game. Lakers won 103-97 as they came back from a first half deficit. They trailed throughout the game but showed who was #1 as Lakers finished the game strong.

Denver plays the game on runs. They go on quick spurts but Lakers always come back and trim the lead down. That is good for Lakers. They repsond well to the deficit.

"Mamba There goes that man." Mark Jackson of ESPN says that once Kobe makes a big shot and that was said tonight in the fourth quarter. Boy Kobe looked dogged tired after the game. Doing the post game interview, Kobe was all hunched over, drenched in sweat as he spoke with ESPN's Doris Burke. Kobe had 41 pts 6 reb and 5 ast. He kept the Lakers in the game as he just kept shooting and making it. Tonight was Kobe Doing Work. That three over J.R. Smith changed the pace and tone of the game. Kobe is UNBELIEVEABLE. He was Vintage Kobe all night. I don't know how Kobe nails those shots with the defender's hand right over your face. Great game by Kobe. He made nearly half his shots and almost all of his freethrows. Kobe was the CLOSER again.

Trevor Ariza made the play of the game with that steal of Kenyon Martin's pass into Carmelo Anthony. Again you have to also credit Lamar Odom for doing a great job defender Martin the inbound passer. This was the same exact scene in Game 1 as Ariza intercepted a pass. Tonight's steal cost Denver the win as Anthony fouled out. Ariza also made many clutch three point shots down the stretch in the 4th quarter. Ariza is playing well as he finished with 16 pts.

"Boom Boom Pau" was what Jeff Van Gundy called Pau Gasol after Gasol made a nice basket. Pau Gasol was consistent once again. He had 20 pts and 11 reb and led the Lakers back on that fourth quarter comeback of 8 points. He had a nice dunk in the second quarter and made many turnaround shots over Nene in the fourth. He was another guy that played well tonight along with Ariza and Bryant.

Game 4 is Monday night. I don't know who to choose for this game. Should I fall into the theory that I made up Thursday night of having all this set up or should I keep it the real way the game is being played? I don't know, but I will go with Lakers on Monday.

Tonight Lakers got 14 more freethrows but missed 14 of them. Good thing it did not cost Lakers the ballgame. For Game 4, Lakers need to nail down their freethrows. The refs did a pretty good job tonight.

Let's home theres no Memorial Day Surprise on Monday...