Game 4: Nuggets vs. Lakers Tonight at Pepsi Center
'Home Sweet Home' was the secret sauce for the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, winning 99-84, but remain down 2 games to 1 in the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers. A Nuggets win tonight would assure a Game 6 back in Denver on Thursday night. Game 5 is Tuesday night in LA, with Game 4 tonight at 7:30 in the Pepsi Center (TV: Altitude/TNT).
The Lakers never trailed in winning the first two games but they were powerless during a 28-2 spurt by the Nuggets in the first half Friday night that gave Denver a double-digit cushion.
Instead of limiting their stars minutes after that or conceding this one, the Lakers fought back and made a game of it, cutting the deficit to four points in the third quarter.
"I'm not a big fan of 20-point leads in the first half," Nuggets coach George Karl said, noting that teams with big early cushions tend to get lazy. "I'm kind of glad it turned out to be a hard game, at least a game where we had to make fourth-quarter plays.
The 2012 NBA Playoffs represent the sixth time ever that the Nuggets and Lakers will be meeting in the postseason, with Denver having gone 0-5 in the previous five series meetings. The most recent meeting came during the 2009 Western Conference Finals, with Los Angeles winning that series 4-2 to advance to the NBA Finals and win the 2009 NBA Championship.
Tickets are available for tonight’s round-1 playoff game at Pepsi Center vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, and can be purchased by calling (303) 405-1111, or click here.
More From K99
