Game updates: Lakers vs. Nuggets, Game 5 - Los Angeles Times (blog)

Nuggets 76, Lakers 65, end of third quarter

If the Lakers were looking to come out strong in the third quarter, it was short lived. Kobe Bryant and Ramon Sessions made it a two-point game with a couple buckets. But then the Nuggets went on a 10-0 run, six points by Danilo Gallinari and four by Ty Lawson to give the Nuggets their biggest lead of the game â€" 12.

The game continued to be ragged with neither team playing well but the Nuggets seemed to be playing with more energy.

If the Lakers were going to stay in this game, they needed someone to step up. Of course, Bryant answered the call. With about three minutes to play, the Lakers had cut a 12-point lead down to three on a Bryant three pointer. At that point, Bryant had scored nine of the last 11 Lakers points. The Nuggets called timeout to try and slow the Lakers' â€" or maybe just Bryant’s â€" momentum.

It worked. JaVale McGee slammed two home followed by an Andre Miller basket and the Nuggets were back up by nine. McGee had already accumulated a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

With 1:27  to play, Andrew Bynum made two free throws as did Andre Miller on the other end. Corey Brewer finished out the quarter with a basket and the normally friendly Staples Center crowd was booing the Lakers , who were down by 11.

The Lakers continued their poor shooting making only 25 of 65 (35%), while the Nuggets were 30 of 66 (45.5%).

Bryant led all scorers with 29 points.

The Lakers have dug a tough hole. Can they get out?

Nuggets 49, Lakers 43, Halftime

Bad basketball continued to reign in the second quarter. Neither team was in rhythm. If they were giving standardized tests in decision making and execution, a few players would have been held back a grade.

Finally, the Lakers were able to put together a little bit of momentum when Steve Blake scored on a four-on-one (Denver, defense?) and Matt Barnes drove the lane uncontested for an uncontested layup to tie the score.

But that was short lived as Andre Miller and Arron Afflalo each made threes and the Lakers were down by six. On the next Lakers possession, Andrew Bynum fell to the floor, losing the ball out of bounds -- it was that kind of game.

With five minutes left in the period, Matt Barnes was the leading scorer for the Lakers. What does that tell you?

Kobe Bryant closed it to two with four minutes to play but a couple baskets by JaVale McGee made it a six-point game with 3:05 to play.

The Nuggets had closed out a 10-2 run to take a 10-point lead with about a minute and a half to play in the half.

With a minute to go, Bryant hit two free throws to cut it to eight and followed that up 10 seconds later with another two free throws and the lead was six. After Afflalo scored, Bryant  benefited from a goaltending call and the halftime margin was six.

Bryant, who scored the last 10 Lakers points, was the leading scorer with 18. No one else was in double figures. The Lakers were shooting a miserable 33.3% (15 for 45).

Afflalo led the Nuggets with 13 points, while Kenneth Faried had 10. The Nuggets were shooting 41% (19 of 46).

If the Lakers can’t play any better, they could be taking a plane ride back to Denver.