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DENVER—Big,
bristly brooms were everywhere in these National
Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs, giant kitchen
cleaners such as Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.
But
Monday was the first time anybody has used the word
sweep.
Tough
guys were everywhere this NBA spring, hammers such as
David West and Carlos Boozer.
But
Monday was the first time anybody has used the word
crush.
Granted,
they didn’t require much more than a pulse until the
final hour of the final game.
But
nowhere in the NBA does that pulse beat harder today
than underneath those gold jerseys that are slightly
sweaty, a tad torn, but otherwise unmarked.
What the
San Antonio Spurs couldn’t do, what the Boston Celtics
didn’t come close to doing, the Lakers have done,
sweeping their first-round series against the Denver
Nuggets on Monday with a 107-101 victory in Game Four at
the Pepsi Center.
After
which I asked the Nuggets’s Allen Iverson a question
that permeates the Los Angeles basin today: Just how
good are those Lakers?
He
looked at me scornfully, then laughed.
“We just
got swept by them!” he said. “I don’t know what kind of
question that is.”
It is
one he had just answered, then and throughout a series
that the Lakers dominated until the final quarter.
Against
a Nuggets team that played like Carmelo Anthony’s
constant expression—a carefree, apathetic smile—the
Lakers really didn’t need to turn it on until the end.
But man,
how they turned it on.
With the
score tied 90-90, a Nuggets comeback fueled as much by
Kobe Bryant’s futility as anything, Bryant then took it
all back.
He hit a
three-pointer and a spinning layup to give the Lakers a
five-point lead.
The
Nuggets came back with six points on two possessions,
but the MVP fought back again, hitting a jumper for a
one-point lead that became four points when Luke Walton
made a three-pointer.
The
Nuggets scored, Bryant scored. The Nuggets scored again
to pull to within two, and Bryant found Lamar Odom who
found Pau Gasol on a dunk to take a four-point lead that
proved to be enough.
“It was
evident tonight, and throughout the series…we got beat
by a better team,” Iverson said.
Truly,
with the exception of those furious final minutes, the
Lakers can hardly use these four games as a predictor of
their future playoff toughness.
But you
know something?
It
matters to them.
It
matters to them that, in one this most competitive of
NBA seasons, nobody was able to roll their first-round
opponent like this.
It
matters to them that in one of the most difficult
conference races in NBA history, they are the only West
team that has whupped.
When
asked about a sweep before the game, Odom smiled.
“This
would be making a statement internally,” he said. “You
think about all the talent out there, you think about
what a sweep involves, this would mean a lot to us.”
Some of
us still might want to see more—like the first game in
the next round against probably the tough and composed
Utah Jazz, the exact opposite of the Nuggets.
But the
Lakers have seen enough.
“This
would be saying that they take of business,” coach Phil
Jackson said of a sweep. “And that they’re ready to take
care of business.”
In the
beginning, the Nuggets acted, as usual, like it was none
of their business.
The game
began, as all Nuggets games in the Pepsi Center begin,
with a scoreboard sign.
“No one
sits until the Nuggets score.”
Those
poor people.
Marcus
Camby’s layup was blocked by Gasol.
Linus
Kleiza missed a jumper.
Iverson
missed a jumper
Camby
missed a jumper.
Kleiza
lost a dribble.
Kenyon
Martin missed a layup.
Nearly
four clock minutes into the game, nearly everyone in the
arena was still standing, their will obviously stronger
than the players they were watching.
Finally,
with
8:45 left in the first quarter, Anthony sank a free throw to give
the Nuggets one point and their fans a rest.
“We
don’t have to sit down!” shouted the public-address
announcer. “We can stand for victory!”
At which
point, thousands of fans sat down.
It was
that kind of start.
By the
time former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway showed
up late in the first quarter to sit under the basket,
the Nuggets already trailed, 18-10.
Already
too late for a heroic comeback.
There
were other signs that this would be the Lakers’ night.
With
8:57 left in the second quarter Bryant missed a free
throw, but a Laker climbed over three Nuggets and dunked
in the rebound.
That
Lakers’ name was DJ Mbenga.
A few
moments later, Bryant pumped once, then again, then spun
around Eduardo Najera, then tossed it into a teammate
for another dunk.
Yep, DJ
Mbenga.
By the
end of the first half, the Nuggets’s defense was so
lackadaisical, Gasol scored a last-second layup on a
full-court pass from Bryant, then stared at his
teammates with wide eyes and a surprised smile.
“Whoooo!” he shouted.
That
gave the Lakers a 64-54 lead, which seemed safe midway
through the third quarter when Anthony missed an alley-oop
dunk attempt so bad, the ball bounced off the back of
the rim and soared about 45 feet behind him, ending up
out of bounds at midcourt.
Then
came their comeback, but it was too little, too lazy,
too late.
Whoooo,
indeed.
The
children’s table cleared, it is now time for the Lakers
to venture to the adult table probably found in
Salt Lake City.
The
eating will be more difficult.
The
appetite, however, is unquestioned. |
