2012 NBA Playoffs: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets, Western Conference First Round, Game 5

Information about game 5 of the L.A. Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets series in the 2012 NBA Playoffs, with score, recap, pictures, stats, highlights, quotes and Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol performance.

Los Angeles Lakers

2012 NBA Playoffs Western Conference First Round
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets

Denver Nuggets

Series Index:

G.1: Lakers 103, Nuggets 88 - at Los Angeles
G.2: Lakers 104, Nuggets 100 - at Los Angeles
G.3: Nuggets 99, Lakers 84 - at Denver
G.4: Lakers 92, Nuggets 88 - at Denver
G.5: Nuggets 102, Lakers 99 - at Los Angeles
G.6: Nuggets 113, Lakers 96 - at Denver
G.7: Lakers 96, Nuggets 87 - at Los Angeles
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Game recap & pictures
Game recap & pictures
Game recap & pictures
Game recap & pictures
Game recap & pictures
Game recap & pictures
 
 
 
 
 

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Los Angeles Lakers 3 - 2 Denver Nuggets

GAME 5: L.A. Lakers 99 - Denver Nuggets 102

Leaders Points Rebounds Assists
Lakers Bryant: 43 Bynum: 11 Sessions: 6
Nuggets Miller: 24 McGee: 14 Lawson: 8
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Tot
LAL 23 20 22 34 99
DEN 26 23 27 26 102
click for Lakers 2012 Playoff pictures (LA Daily News), Western Conference First Round vs. Denver Nuggets Game 5
Picture Gallery (LAT)

May 8 - Staples Center, Los Angeles. The Lakers played an awful game and looked hopeless until Kobe Bryant brought them back to life with 4 three-pointers part of a 17-6 run that trimmed the Nuggets' lead to 2 points with 59 seconds left, but it was all the Lakers had to give and after missing two three-points attempts in the final possession they lost 102-99.

Now the series is 3-2 for the Lakers who will have to travel to try to close it Thursday at Denver.

Aside from Kobe who finished with 43 points, nobody else dressed on purple and gold looked willing to shoot the ball and their defensive attitude was a shame in general and Andrew Bynum in particular played most of the game as if he didn't understood the relevance of his role in the team. His defense of the paint was just atrocius like if he weren't the same player who got 10 blocks in game 1. JaVale McGee did whatever he wanted in the paint finding little resistance and finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Denver was led by veteran point guard Andre Miller who had 24 points and 8 assists coming from the bench.

The Nuggets went to halftime with a 49-43 lead and midway through the fourth quarter they enjoyed a 15-point lead, 90-75. Then Kobe's threes started to rain and after he made 3 consecutive the deficit was as little as 2, 98-96. He missed in the next to possessions but with 14 seconds left Ramon Sessions made a three of his own to reduce the distance to 100-99. Miller made two free throws to put the final numbers since Kobe and Sessions couldn't tie with their 3-point attempts in the final 5 seconds.

In another of his puzzling comments, Andrew Bynum declared before the game that closing series was easy because the opponents tend to give up quickly when facing adversity...

The Quotes

Mike Brown (LAL Coach): "They were daring us to take outside shots, 'We were getting shots we couldn't make. But to me, that's not the difference in the game. There were so many things we could have done to win this ballgame. ... I'm more disappointed in our defense and our lack of protecting the paint"

George Karl (Nuggets Coach): "Kobe was incredible. 'He scares the hell out of me every time we go up against him"

and about Bynum's stupid comment about closing series was easy: ''I've been blessed to win a few series, and the hardest thing to win is that fourth game. 'His feeling on closeouts is a little different than mine.''

Highlights

Los Angeles Lakers Denver Nuggets
Leaders: Pts Reb Ast St Bl More
Kobe Bryant 43 6 5 2 -  
Andrew Bynum 16 11 1 - 1  
Matt Barnes 11 4 2 2 -  
Ramon Sessions 9 6 6 - -  
Pau Gasol 9 10 1 1 3  
Leaders: Pts Reb Ast St Bl More
Andre Miller 24 2 8 1 -  
JaVale McGee 21 14 1 - 2  
Arron Afflalo 19 5 1 3 -  
Danilo Gallinari 14 5 1 - 1  
Kenneth Faried 10 9 - 1 -  

Complete Boxscore

DENVER NUGGETS
Starters Min FG 3P FT Off Def Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts 
Kenneth Faried, F 24 5-5 0-0 0-0 1 8 9 0 1 0 3 3 +8 10
Danilo Gallinari, SF 37 4-13 0-3 6-6 0 5 5 1 0 1 0 0 +4 14
Timofey Mozgov, C 13 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 +4 0
Arron Afflalo, SG 35 8-19 1-5 2-3 0 5 5 1 3 0 1 0 +1 19
Ty Lawson, PG 29 4-12 0-3 1-2 0 2 2 8 2 0 0 3 +11 9
Bench Min FG 3P FT Off Def Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts 
Al Harrington, PF 27 0-7 0-4 3-4 1 4 5 0 0 1 1 0 -1 3
Andre Miller, PG 28 8-11 2-2 6-6 0 2 2 8 1 0 1 4 -5 24
Corey Brewer, SF 15 1-5 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 -1 2
JaVale McGee, C 33 9-12 0-0 3-6 6 8 14 1 0 2 0 3 -6 21
Totals 39-85 3-19 21-27 8 35 43 19 7 5 7 19   102
Percentages: 45.9% 15.8% 77.8%
Fast break points:   19
Points in the paint:   58
Team TO ( points off ):   7 (6)
+/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Starters Min FG 3P FT Off Def Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts 
Pau Gasol, PF 37 4-11 0-0 1-2 2 8 10 1 1 3 2 4 +12 9
Devin Ebanks, SF 11 1-3 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 -7 3
Andrew Bynum, C 39 5-8 0-0 6-8 4 7 11 1 0 1 1 2 -3 16
Kobe Bryant, SG 43 14-32 5-11 10-11 1 5 6 5 2 0 3 2 -6 43
Ramon Sessions, PG 36 3-12 1-3 2-3 0 6 6 6 0 0 2 1 +9 9
Bench Min FG 3P FT Off Def Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts 
Matt Barnes, SF 23 5-14 1-6 0-0 2 2 4 2 2 0 0 3 -3 11
Steve Blake, PG 31 3-6 2-4 0-0 3 3 6 4 1 0 1 4 -3 8
Jordan Hill, C 20 0-4 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 0 0 1 0 2 -13 0
Darius Morris, G 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0
Totals 35-90 9-24 20-26 15 33 48 20 6 5 9 20   99
Percentages: 38.9% 37.5% 76.9%
Fast break points:   14
Points in the paint:   44
Team TO ( points off ):   10 (12)
+/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
Flagrant Fouls: None
Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: 2 LALAKERS ( A Bynum 1 ) DENVER ( A Miller 1 ) - TEAMS (def3sec): None - COACHES: None
Officials: Joe Crawford , Zach Zarba , Tony Brothers

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