Lakers Beat Nuggets in 6; Advance to Second Consecutive NBA Finals

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets in six games to advance to their second consecutive NBA Finals. The Lakers will be looking for their fifteenth NBA championship, and their first one since 2002.

The Denver Nuggets had been the best team in the Western Conference going into their series against the Lakers. They had beaten the New Orleans Hornets in five games, followed by the Dallas Mavericks in five games. The Los Angeles Lakers got through their first-round opponents, the Utah Jazz in five games, before struggling against the injured Houston Rockets, beating them in seven games.

This series was highly contested for the most part. Game 1 of the series was close throughout but Kobe Bryant took over in the fourth quarter, finishing with 40 points, and helping the Lakers win 105-103 at home. The win marked the 11th consecutive playoff win for the Lakers against the Nuggets. The Denver Nuggets came back to take Game 2 on the road by the score of 106-103. Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points and the Nuggets made their free throws late in the fourth quarter, taking the series back to Denver at one game apiece.

The Lakers took Game 3, 103-97, after a huge fourth quarter from the Lakers where they outscored the Nuggets by 14 points. Bryant scored 41 points, including a big three-pointer and four free throws late in the fourth quarter. The first three games were very close, being decided by six points or less, but Game 4 was a blowout by the Nuggets, outscoring the Lakers in every quarter. The Nuggets won by 19 points, 120-101, to even the series again. It was a team effort by the Nuggets as six players scored in double-digits.

Game 5 was tied after three quarters before the Lakers started to take over. The Lakers outscored the Nuggets by nine points in the fourth quarter and won 103-94. They had their best game defensively and Lamar Odom was the key in this game, finishing with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Bryant scored just 22 points with Pau Gasol adding 14 points and 10 rebounds. In Game 6, the Lakers looked their best, dominating the Nuggets, beating them by 27 points, 119-92.

Even though the Nuggets lost in the Western Conference Finals, they should be extremely proud of what they accomplished this season. The last two games of this series showed that the Lakers are a championship caliber team and will be hard to beat.

The last time the Lakers were in the NBA Finals was last year, when they lost to the Boston Celtics in six games. The Lakers will represent the Western Conference, facing off in the NBA Finals against the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.