Los Angeles Lakers KOBE BRYANT #24 Men's NBA Swingman Jersey,

James Harden is going to be mad about the elbow, Russell Westbrook is going to be mad about not putting up 25 a game in the Dallas Mavericks series, and finally, Kevin Durant is going to be mad about not winning the MVP. The Lakers had better gotten a good night’s rest and put in a great, not good day of practice today, if they want any shot of battling with the Oklahoma City Thunder. It seemed to be working when the Nuggets had a four-point lead in the fourth, but Kobe being the smart player that he is ended up finding Blake and World Peace for open 3′s and ended with 8 assists on the night. He lead the Lakers with 23 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, and four blocks. Laker great, Magic Johnson, had made outlandish comments about if Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol didn’t play well then Mike Brown should be fired. Pau knew that it was big after the all out effort to finish the play, and it was one of the turning points for the Lakers.

Afflalo’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 89-84 with 1:09 to play, but Bryant hit a dramatic 3-pointer before Gasol hit two free throws with 31 seconds left, punctuating his phenomenal game with a sweeping punch of his fist. Gasol put the Lakers ahead for good with a tiebreaking tip-in with 6:30 to play, kicking off an 11-2 Lakers run. The four-time All-Star had just three points and three rebounds in Game 6, but he played the finale with emotion and aggression, hustling for loose balls and rebounds while demonstratively celebrating baskets and playing to the crowd. The Lakers narrowly avoided becoming the ninth team to waste a 3-1 lead after losing two closeout games in the previous four days. While World Peace shut down Danilo Gallinari and provided unexpected perimeter scoring, Gasol was the Lakers’ best player on both ends in the finale, playing with renewed passion after a poor Game 6.

  Playing the Lakers only highlights these deficiencies given how good the Lakers are at hitting the glass. Since the Celtics last lost to the Lakers, the C’s have matched both their longest winning and losing streaks (5 games). On February 9th, the Celtics faced the Lakers in a sloppy overtime slugfest at TDGarden. Celtics 95, Lakers 90. Meanwhile, the Lakers have gone 9-5 and have got a strong win against Miami and a rare loss to Washington.   The C’s are going to have to play the Lakers, Clippers, Hawks, Sixers, and Nuggets all on the road and all before March 24th.

Danilo Gallinari had three points, three rebounds, and three assists while Andre Miller–who was hounded by World Peace all night–scored just three points, but had 11 rebounds and eight assists nonetheless. Bynum was solid with eight points, six rebounds (four offensive), and three blocks after the first 24 minutes of play. As for the Nuggets, Ty Lawson (six assists, five rebounds) and Al Harrington scored 24 points apiece. In the first quarter, the Lakers built a narrow 25-24 lead. The Lakers built a 16 point lead at one time, but the Nuggets mounted a huge comeback and trailed by just one point, 69-68 after three quarters. Pau Gasol was aggressive early en route to six points, three rebounds, and two assists, and Andrew Bynum also started out the game well by defending well (three blocks) and converting on his baskets. Kobe Bryant finished with 17 points and eight assists while Andrew Bynum notched 16 points, 18 rebounds (nine offensive) and six blocks. Every single player on the floor for the Lakers stepped up in a huge way, and the Lakers came away with a 96-87 victory. Pau Gasol led the way for the Lakers with 23 points, 17 rebounds (11 offensive), six assists, and four blocks. Steve Blake hit a huge three-pointer to bring the Lakers within one, 22-21, at one point. Arron Afflalo added 15 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Jordan Hill had two points and three rebounds while Matt Barnes was scoreless but had four rebounds in six minutes of play.