#LAKERS VS NUGGETS GAME 5 2009 SERIES#

The team that controls the five feet in front of the basket will win the game. I don't care how repetitive it gets, I'm going to say it again.

#LAKERS VS NUGGETS GAME 5 2009 SERIES#

Now, with five games in the series under our belt, it's time to take a look at what we've learned and how they apply to the keys to Game 6: From there, the Lakers were playing four on three with guys like Lamar cutting to the basket, opening room on the outside where the guard had open jumpers or could pass it back into the big men on the repost. The double team on Kobe was broken by a quick pass to Pau on the wing, 15 feet out. The Lakers were a mere 3-16, for a measly 19%, from the three point line in Game 5, but it didn't matter because they were taking it to the tin. That's why the Lakers shot only 16 three pointers in Game 5 after taking 31 in Game 4. Too often earlier in the series when Denver brought a double team, the four other Lakers would all go to the three point line and stand there, especially in Game 4. The last thing the Lakers can take from Game 5 is that they can get to the basket and tear apart the Denver double team IF they have a plan to break it.

Now that their backs are against the wall and they need a victory, will they keep their composure? I'm one of Chauney Billups' biggest fans so I'd lean towards yes, but regardless of whether or not they can, the Lakers better believe they can because counting on a late game meltdown will assuredly get them in trouble. They go away from their offense at times and end up taking bad shots, while defensively they play the passing lanes too much when they get overexcited and give up easy buckets. There's been an inability to complete simple inbounds plays. The technical fouls keep coming and they come at inopportune times. If this year's edition of the Nuggets had the same mindset as last year's, this series would be over, but they've yet to show the composure and poise necessary to win a title. Denver has earned loads of praise for the steps forward they've taken this year since the acquisition of Chauncey Billups and deservedly so. One other thing Game 5 proved was that while Denver is certainly a much improved squad, they've yet to prove that they can maintain their composure and make smart decisions late in games when it's necessary. Add in a commitment to dominating the glass and we saw the Lakers take care of the two things we all know they need to take care of: their end of the court and the boards. Granted, the Lakers got some help from the Nuggets who took some bad shots, missed some easy ones and looked befuddled out there, but the purple and gold played fantastic defense over that stretch that turned the game around. In a stretch that lasted nearly an entire quarter, from the 7:37 mark of the third until the 7:52 mark of the fourth, the Lakers held the Nuggets to only five points. The first is, when the energy and discipline is there, this team can play shutdown defense. Game 5 proved a few things to the Lakers. Now the Lakers are on the brink of the NBA Finals, but if the old saying is true, this fourth win will be the toughest of them all. Since then, the Lakers played an outstanding final 19 minutes of Game 5 and have taken control of the series with a 3-2 advantage. That was in Game 4, the last game played in Denver, when the Nuggets were the better team from the first minutes to the last. Back to Denver we go, site of the only game that one team was the clear-cut better team in this series.

Lakers vs nuggets game 5 2009