Nuggets 51, Lakers 45 (halftime)
The second quarter started with the same back and forth although the Lakers sometimes found themselves in a track meet with the Nuggets, which was not in their best interest.
With 9:27 to play in the quarter the Lakers took the lead, 33-32, on a three-point play by Pau Gasol and followed that with a Matt Barnes dunk to give them a three-point cushion. But Al Harrington cut Denver's deficit to one, 35-34.
After a couple of missed opportunities by each team, JaVale McGee hit both of his free throws and the Nuggets were back in front, 36-35. But Andrew Bynum’s put-back of a Kobe Bryant miss gave returned the lead to the Lakers. And Bryant extended it to three with a hard bank shot.
A Corey Brewer basket cut the Lakers' lead to one and then Andre Miller made one of two free throws. The freebies came after a Barnes foul on a breakaway, so the Nuggets were also given the ball.
The Nuggets scored two more baskets to complete a 7-0 run before Bryant made his second three-pointer (in two tries) to bring the Lakers back to within one. But McGee’s bucket upped the Nuggets' lead to three.
Three became five when Danilo Gallinari hit from outside. That’s when the game started to get away from the Lakers, who eventually trailed by seven.
As the quarter wound down, Ramon Sessions made one of two free throws to cut it to six. Clearly the Lakers need to ramp things up to avoid a 2-2 series tie.
At halftime, the Lakers' leading scorer was Bynum with 12. Bryant had 11. The Lakers shot 20 of 45 (44%) from the field.
Gallinari led the Nuggets with 12 points while Andre Miller has 11. The Nuggets shot 24 of 47 (51%) from the field in the first half.
Nuggets 28, Lakers 26 (end of first quarter)
It was a far cry from Friday night when the Nuggets put together a 28-2 run, but the opening quarter was fairly evenly played. Each team had the requisite number of missed shots, turnovers and successes.The Nuggets made the initial push, building an 8-3 lead with a 6-0 run on baskets by Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and Ty Lawson.
But the Lakers scrapped back with baskets by Ramon Sessions and Andrew Bynum. The teams traded baskets before Kobe Bryant tied the score, 14-14, with 5:25 to play. The Lakers took their first lead of the game with 4:20 left in the quarter when Bryant missed a free throw while attempting to finish a three-point play but they got the rebound and Bryant made the jumper for an 18-16 lead.
Andre Miller and Bynum exchanged baskets and Miller tied it once again, 20-20, with about three minutes to play. The Lakers mismanaged the shot clock and Bryant had to take a desperation shot. The Nuggets rebounded and Miller gave the Nuggets back the lead, 22-20.
Jordan Hill tied the score but Miller gave the Nuggets back-to-back baskets to up his total to 10 points. Bynum and Gallinari traded baskets before Matt Barnes' shot was called good because of goaltending and the Lakers had closed their deficit to two points.
Bynum led the Lakers with nine points, followed by Bryant’s seven. The Lakers made 12 of 25 shots (48%). The Nuggets were 14 for 26 (54%).
The game was shaping up to be very competitive.
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