Los Angeles Lakers edge past Denver Nuggets 93-89 - NBA Recap
Los Angeles have started their 6 games road trip impressively.
On Friday night, in what was their first away game of the long road trip, they held their nerves in ending moments and squeaked past the Denver Nuggets 93-89.
Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant starred for the Lakers.
Bynum had a double-double with 22 points on 10-for-13 from the floor and 10 boards while Bryant, who although struggled with his shooting throughout, bundled 20 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and handed out 9 assists. Pau Gasol also
had a double-double with 13 points and 17 rebounds while the reserve Andrew Goudelock finished with 13 points as well. Derek Fisher had 10 points.
Al Harrington led the Broncos with a game high 24 points on 3 for 8 from downtown and 5 for 6 from the charity stripe along with 8 boards whereas Andre Miller tallied 16 points on a perfect 6 for 6 from the charity stripe. Ty Lawson
had 14 points and 7 assists while Nene bundled 12 points.
Lakers started strongly with a 23-12 spurt, capped by Gasol’s layup, however in the next few minutes, the Nuggets rattled a 9-0 run to end the frame, only behind by 2 points 21-23.
The next quarter was highly competitive as neither team managed to fully gain complete command of the game. Lakers however, maintained a small lead throughout and ended the first half, ahead by 3 points 44-41.
Denver started the 3rd frame with an 8-2 burst to turn the game in their favour, 49-46, but Lakers were up to the task and with the help of a 10-2 run in the ensuing passage, they quickly regained the dominance. Bryant
and Goudelock in tandem, kept scoring until the end of the frame to ensure Lakers entered the deciding frame with a four points lead 72-68.
An 8-4 spurt by Lakers, capped by Kobe’s 3 in the opening minutes of the quarter strengthened the Lakers hold on the game further, as the lead mounted to 8 points 80-72.
Harrington however once again came forward and scored quickly for the Broncos to make it 83-84.
With less than 30 seconds remaining, the Nuggets were only behind 2 points 89-91, however they failed to score in the crunch time, whereas on the other hand, Matt Barnes drilled two free throws to see Lakers to a win.