There has been a lot of speculation lately that the 2012 version of the LA Lakers was too old and lacked the heart and desire to make another deep postseason run, especially since their were without their best defensive player Metta World Peace, suspended for 7 games for what should be called the “elbow shot heard round the world.”
But in similar fashion to the mostly 30 year old plus roster of the Celtics, who finished off the 76ers in Game 1 of their series, the Lakers leaned on experience and desire in imposing their will upon a the much smaller Denver frontline Saturday night, outlasting the upstart Nuggets for a hard fought 96-87 victory in Game 7.
Despite most of the pre-game hype being focused on Kobe Bryant and his stellar 4-1 mark in deciding Game 7’s throughout his career, it was his much maligned supporting cast that came through for the “Black Mamba”, who seemed almost to play a supporting role, putting up a quiet 17 points and 8 assists, amid constant double teams.
After a admittedly subpar Game 6 effort consisting of 3 points and 3 boards on 1-10 shooting, Pau Gasol put some extra work in at the Forum prior to Game 7 and it clearly paid off as the 7 foot Spaniard had one of his best postseason games of his career, fighting off Nuggets pesky rookie Kenneth Faried(6 points, 10 rebounds) to put up 23 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks in helping the Lakers advance to a 2nd Round rematch with the well rested OKC Thunder Monday evening.
Kobe’s harsh words directed at his lackluster teammates earlier in the series appeared to also ignite All Star center Andrew Bynum who added 16 points and a career playoff high 18 boards and 6 blocks and Metta Wold Peace, who added 15 points and played outstanding defense on Andre Miller and Danilo Gallinari. The Nuggets were paced by another outstanding performance by PG Ty Lawson who tallied 24 points and 6 assists, as well as Al Harrington’s 24 points off the bench.
We know Kobe will be up to the task against OKC but the question remains, can the Lakers bigs play consistent enough to outlast the talented Thunder frontcourt of Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka, Nick Collison, and Nazr Muhammed?
It will also be interesting to watch the interaction between Wold Peace and James Harden since Peace has stood by his argument that the elbow was an accident and refuses to shake the hand of newly crowned NBA 6th Man of the Year next series.
Check out some highlights of Game 7:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
