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When the Nuggets face the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their series tonight, one thing is perfectly clear ... the Nuggets cannot win if their wing players don't make shots.
Time for No. 6 and No. 8 to shut their critics up ...
We at Denver Stiffs can harp and moan about how Ty Lawson goes, so go the Nuggets. But a curious thing developed in both of the first two games of this playoff series. Danilo Gallinari had a good Game 1, Ty Lawson had a bad one. Gallo had a bad Game 2, Ty had a good one. Arron Afflalo was bad in both games. Let's forget about all the meaningless garbage we spout about various players who MUST have good games outside of these three. To be blunt, in order to beat the Lakers all three players must play exceptionally well.
Gallo said that he needs to stay aggressive and continue to drive to the hoop. In all honesty, the Nuggets need to get Gallo to be the "glue" of this team again, while elevating his offensive game. If he cannot do it then the Nuggets won't have enough to beat this Lakers team. Also, AAA needs to find his way back from the wilderness of guarding Kobe Bryant and just start hitting shots. Both Gallo and AAA were horrid with their outside shooting in Game 2, and when they are like that the Nuggets won't win, regardless of how well Lawson plays. One other thing - since both players are shooters, they need to follow Chauncey Billups' advice and just keep shooting. I know that runs counter-intuitive to the way we think things should go, but still, they both need to keep shooting until shots go in.
George Karl went through a litany of things the Nuggets must do to get off the mat in Game 3. Truth be told, I may be in the minority on this issue, but I thought that Karl adjusted well to the Lakers in Game 2. When the Lakers went up 19 points in the third quarter, Karl kept a smaller, quicker lineup in and it actually played to the Nuggets favor. The Lakers have the three best players in the series (Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum) but their bench depth doesn't match the Nuggets. The Nuggets need to exploit their matchups better to win this series.
The Denver Post has been stepping up their game with Nuggets coverage since the playoffs started (as opposed to the regular season ... which was typically horrendous in this Broncos-centric town). They have a nice video from Nuggets practice and some small interview clips with some Nuggets players.
One last thing, Nuggets fans, please don't let those myopic, bandwagon jumping, johnny come lately, front running Lakers fans who show up at Pepsi Center get to you. If the Nuggets take care of business in Game 3 it will be much easier to drown them out in Game 4. When those troglodytes start their insipid MVP chants for Kobe Bryant just scream louder. That's the way to do it.
Go Nuggets!
Additional Links:
CSG #39: Rich Eisen calls in, Broncos Draft, Nuggets Playoffs - Ross Martin & Nate Timmons, Colorado Sports Guys.com
NFL Network star Rich Eisen talks about the Broncos draft and the CSG guys talk about the Nuggets and Lakers series.
SB Nation Bloggers Pick 2012 NBA Award Winners - Tom Ziller, SB Nation
Rookie of the Year: "Kyrie Irving picked up 16 of the 18 votes for Rookie of the Year, and will almost assuredly win the official prize, too. The other two votes went to Kenneth Faried; only one of these votes came from our Nuggets blog, Denver Stiffs, which brings up the specter of bribery or hallucinogens for our other Faried voter. This is a dark day for SB Nation."