Nuggets-Lakers Game 3 Reaction: Anything You Can Do

Kobe can do better. That was directed at you, Lebron. You gave us an amazing shot, Kobe gave us an amazing fourth quarter. I'm expecting something special from you tonight. And this is the part where I remember that I'm betting against Lebron and punch a wall a few times. By the way, since we're on the topic of my bet, I realized that it really is the definition of a win-win situation. I win the bet and I get 30 dollars, I "lose" the bet and I get to eat a whole box of Eggo cereal. Was that just me trying to rationalize a stupid bet after picking against Lebron James? You bet your ass it was.

Lakers-Nuggets

I don't want to be seen as someone who shies away from my mistakes, so let me be the first to say that I was wrong. I said that the Nuggets would win Game 3 and was wrong. I said that Carmelo would prove to us that he's on the same level as Kobe and Lebron (which he is, he just wasn't last night) and was wrong. And probably most importantly, I forgot that Kobe Bryant was on the Lakers, which wasn't just wrong but was flat-out stupid. And even though I mentioned it in the previous paragraph, I'm not buying into this supposed Kobe-Lebron duel with each trying to top the other's exploits. Yes, Kobe is aware of what Lebron is doing. So are about a billion other people. Yes, Kobe knows that somewhere along the line this year we all decided to move the title of "The Best Player In The World" off of him and on to Lebron. And yes, a small part of what Kobe did in Game 3 was probably a giant bitch-slap to every basketball fan's collective face after we idolized Lebron for 24 hours, but I believe that the main reason Kobe won the game was, well, because they needed to win the game. It's as simple as that. Kobe knew, like he's known so many times before, that the Lakers needed him to carry them to the finish line and he did just that. There was no "take that Lebron" or trying to outdo The King, there was just a cold-blooded killer breaking the hearts of 20,000 fans in a game his team had to have.

That being said, the Nuggets should have won this game. But instead we were treated to "Furious George Screws Up An Inbounds Play: The Sequel," which was quickly followed by Carmelo Anthony fouling out, effectively ending the game. I still think that the Nuggets are the better team in this series and that they should be up 3-0, but the Lakers have Kobe Bryant and it's starting to look more and more like that just might be enough. At least as long as the Nuggets keep making unintelligent plays down the stretch. And now, rather than going for the sweep on Monday night, the Nuggets will be fighting to stay in the series. It's funny how much one guy changes things. It's also funny how some people never learn.

Don't get me wrong, I believe the Nuggets have a great chance at winning the series, but thanks to two floating, careless passes it's going to be a lot, lot harder. Unnecessarily harder, which might be the worst part. So what do they do now? I would recommend finding a reliable player to pass the ball in. A half-decent sideline inbounds play wouldn't hurt either. After that, they continue to do what they've been doing. They're better than the Lakers, if they stay the course, the winning will come. If not tomorrow, in Game 5. But it will come. Carmelo won't disappear in the second half again like he did in Game 3, Kobe Bryant won't single-handedly win two games in a row (He's getting older and he's getting tired. In his post-game interview both of his hands were on his knees and he was panting more than he was speaking. 2006 Kobe would have never admitted he was drained, let alone show it to the world on national television. Like it or not, he doesn't have enough left in him to dominate every single night.) and the Nuggets won't lose two games in two tries at the Pepsi Center. Hopefully.

And just to clarify, "dominate" doesn't mean scoring 30 for Kobe. That' s nothing for him. Dominate means holding the ball at the end of games for 15-20 seconds per possession and either shooting or creating a shot every time the Lakers go down the floor. And he just can't do that every night anymore. Even after Game 3 he said that the reason the Lakers went to Pau two times on a row late in the game because he was too tired to carry them and needed a break.