Wow this has been an incredible game so far. The Los Angeles Lakers opened the game with a strong first quarter taking a 10 point lead and then the Denver Nuggets made a quick run to close the quarter and close the lead to four. With the 2nd quarter starting, the Nuggets were still pushing the momentum they built at the end of the 1st and turned the game around giving the Nuggets an 8 point lead.

The time that the game seemed to turn was when the Nuggets starting playing zone defense. Obviously, the matchups kill the Nuggets as the team defense struggles and especially with all the size advantages the Lakers have. Either way, the Nuggets lead didn’t last very long as the Lakers pushed hard to finish the 1st half and take a 2 point lead at the break.

At the half, the stat line was already pretty incredible. Lamar Odom had an amazing first half but the talk of the game was really just the superb play of Pau Gasol. They brought Gasol in before the trade deadline hoping he can be the ultimate fit with the triangle offense, turnes out, Mitch Kupchak was correct! Pau Gasol was well on his way to a triple double having already reach double digits in scoring, having nearly 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Kobe Bryant struggled with his shooting only making two out of ten shots, but the Lakers showed off how they play team ball and maintained control of the game throughout every point.

The second half will be quite interesting to watch but I don’t see the game coming down to the wire. It seems like as soon as Iverson sat down, the team started to struggle. With Allen Iverson getting tired in the 2nd half and not being able to push it all game long, i don’t see the Denver Nuggets keeping up.

LA Ball Talk prediction: Lakers blow the game open by about 15 in the 3rd quarter and cruise to the finish line.