Lakers Survive Surprisingly Long Series, Eliminate Nuggets In Game 7

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The keyword in that is opinion. It wasn’t a report or sourced; it was an opinion presented by Johnson.

Don’t believe me? Watch the video of Magic and Chris Broussard screaming at each other. And while you’re watching, realize this triggered reports of Brown’s demise. Also notice how the video begins with a question. It’s framed as though Brown could be fired, as if to drum up interest.

Here is part of what Johnson originally said about Brown’s job security. Via the Los Angeles Times.

Saturday’s Game 7 is scheduled to tip off at 10:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TNT.

Barnes has been wildly ineffective on offense throughout the series, averaging just 5 points and 4 rebounds per game in 22 minutes. He’s shot 13-48 (27 percent) from the floor and 3-24 (12.5 percent) from long-range, just awful numbers at any sample size. Ebanks has been a bit better offensively (similar scoring and better shooting in five fewer minutes per game), but clearly isn’t someone the Lakers rely on to help the offense consistently.

In this sense, MWP’s return is a double-edged sword: Barnes has been effective in controlling Gallinari, a vital piece of Denver’s offense. Now Barnes will be on Gallinari far less. But MWP’s primary offering is defense -- now, in theory, both players guarding Gallo will be strong defenders. But if MWP is bringing defense on par with that of Barnes, where’s the upgrade? How is MWP actually going to help the Lakers get over the hump? (This has somehow become a triple-edged sword.)

Game 7 is scheduled for Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on TNT

For more on the Lakers, check out Silver Screen and Roll and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Nuggets, head over to Denver Stiffs and SB Nation Denver.

Now, Bryant was technically making a play for the ball, but by swinging his arm out, he nailed Faried in the head, which explained the flagrant foul call. Faried then fell pretty hard on the ground, and when he looked up, he looked like this.

That’s scary. It should be noted that Faried is still in the game, so maybe he’s OK. But at first glance, that does not look good.

Yeah. Kobe Bryant probably relishes the opportunity to have a flu game of his own, and although “gastroenteritis game” is a little bit more unwieldy, the storyline is the same. Bryant threw up on the bus according to TNT, and he isn’t in prime physical form. If Kobe manages to play effectively - or, as Bryant probably has dreamed about many times while watching Michael Jordan highlight reels, be the hero - we’ll be hearing about it in Gatorade commercials for some time.

That said, he’ll probably be tired and look somewhat uncomfortable while dealing with a really gross illness.

Thursday’s Game 6 is slated to tip off at 10:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TNT.

For more on the Lakers, check out Silver Screen and Roll and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Nuggets, head over to Denver Stiffs and SB Nation Denver.

And they are always, always wrong.

Oh, it was on display during the comeback ... but especially during Kobe’s failed attempts to tie the game.

OK, so this has nothing to do with the Lakers’ loss in Game 5 Tuesday night. It actually goes back to Friday, after the Lakers lost to the Nuggets in Game 3, and involves J.A. Adande on Around The Horn and Bill Plaschke calling Kobe an asshole. In a loving way, though.

It started when Andrew Bynum told reporters, “Maybe I just wasn’t ready to play. I got there a little late, I didn’t have as much time as I needed.” A player not ready to play in the playoffs? This (obviously) set off all kinds of alarms with the media. So naturally, they asked Kobe about it.

There are a lot of similarities between Bynum and McGee, who are currently facing each other in the first round of the playoffs.

Believe it or not, they are the same age (24), with Bynum being the elder by about three months. Since Bynum has been in the league for seven seasons compared to four for McGee, the tendency is to think of Bynum as being much older. But Andrew was in the 2005 Draft, the last NBA draft class in which high school students were eligible, and was a very young high school senior at that. He played his first NBA game on Nov. 2, 2005, less than a week after turning 18. McGee, on the other hand, played two years of college at Nevada before entering the 2008 draft.

After that, he launched the game ball into orbit.

“Good toss, Vale!” says man in tailored gray suit, who then offers a buttslap.

Will the Nuggets be able to even this series on Thursday night?

For more on the Lakers, check out Silver Screen and Roll and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Nuggets, head over to Denver Stiffs and SB Nation Denver.

The Los Angeles Lakers struggled in all facets of their game in Game 3 of their series against the Denver Nuggets, but were improved all around in Game 4. Denver’s offense completely dried up in the second half as they managed just 37 points. That let the Lakers come back from a bad first half, and they’re heading to LA with a 3-1 series lead after winning 92-88.

For more on the Lakers, head over to Silver Screen and Roll and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Nuggets, check out Denver Stiffs and SB Nation Denver. For complete coverage of the 2012 NBA playoffs, stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated NBA hub.

Really don’t see this often. While fans enter the playing surface during baseball, football and soccer games, it seems to seldom happen during an NBA game. It’s not like there are many barriers, it just doesn’t really happen at all, and that’s probably a good thing.

I really have no idea. It’s like she wants an autograph, and she probably had a wee bit much to drink during the game. (Edit: Nope, worse than that.) Seriously, look at her with a shirt in her hands, just sneaking onto the court.

The Los Angeles Lakers, on the other hand, couldn’t add another nail to the coffin on Friday night as they went down 99-84. The Lakers dominated the first game against the Nuggets, but Game 2 was just a four-point win for L.A. and the Nuggets won Game 3. Los Angeles will go into the game Sunday night looking to stop Denver’s momentum and get closer to closing out the series to advance to the next round.

Game Time: 9:30 p.m. ET, Sunday May 6

The Lakers now lead the series 2-1, with the home team winning all of the series’ first three games.

For more on the Lakers, head over to Silver Screen and Roll and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Nuggets, check out Denver Stiffs and SB Nation Denver.

Bucher also reported that Harrington will likely need to wear a mask when he returns to action later in the series.

Harrington scored seven points before being knocked out of Game 3.

BONUS: Bad fans and one caught-on-camera moment.

Also, notice this picture. First, Kobe Bryant is shooting a free throw and his own fans are heckling him.* Second: CHECK THE WOMAN IN THE BLACK JERSEY GO GO GO:

Here’s info on how to catch tonight’s Game 3:

(A quick aside: does Bynum realize how lucky he is to be playing with this guy? Bynum is a special talent to be sure. He’s absolutely huge, and has a great skill set for a guy that size. But how many gimmes does he get from Gasol every game? Answer: a lot. And how many other bigs in the league can make the plays and passes Gasol makes for Bynum? Answer: none.)

But after the game, a tweet from Dexter Fishmore of Silver Screen and Roll caught my eye:

The two teams will travel to Denver for a Friday game at the Pepsi Center. The teams split the two-game series there during the regular season

For more on the Lakers, head over to Silver Screen and Roll and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Nuggets, head over to Denver Stiffs and SB Nation Denver.

Javale McGee is in the playoffs! And he’s not having fun.

Nine of Bynum’s ten blocks

Here’s video of the first nine of Bynum’s 10 blocks in the game.

The tenth block came against Timofey Mozgov, one of three Nuggets centers who was powerless to stop Bynum from dominating the paint. Size is such a huge factor in the playoffs, and the Lakers have a huge size advantage over the Nuggets that they will continue to exploit until the Nuggets find some magic growing beans. Unless that happens, Denver is in a lot of trouble in this series.