Denver v. LA Lakers : Game 3

[corona]

Key Matchup:

How true is Melo's word?

Last Meeting: April 28 2008
107-101 Lakers victory (final game of 1st round sweep)
Kobe had 31/7/6
Smith dropped in 26 on 7/12 shooting

Denver: 1-1
First game of Melo's season. Says he's going to be a "different player" - more committed to team play and defense.
Atkins is out until the second or third week of the season after undergoing knee surgery.
Hunter's out with knee pain.

Keys to winning:
Getting back on defense - the Lakers are looking to run this season.
Rebounding - Lakers have a long frontline...can't take any board for granted.

Last (will be) 5 Games:
W Clippers
L Utah

LA Lakers: 2-0
Bynum just signed a 4 year, 58 million dollar extension.

Last (will be) 5 Games:
W Clippers
W Blazers

Photos:






Game Notes:
http://www.nba.com/nuggets/news/notes.pdf
http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/notes.pdf

Game Chat:
http://nuggets.proboards1.com/index.cgi?action=chat

[The Answer_CO]

Should be a great game.
Rested Melo, more confidence, more defense

[almost famous]

That Kmart pic is priceless.

[DNIsLeGiT]

No kidding, kmart looked funny in that pic.

Big game tonight hopefully melo will be ready and everyone has enough in the tank to make this game competitive and of course we come out on top.

I'll like to see if ai will continue to play like he did the previous two games melo was out, i hope he plays like he did against the jazz and score when needs to but most importantly the nuggets need to continue to play defense.

[prekazi]

wohoo Melo is back and lol@K-Mart's pic. He's looking like a gdmn teenage mutant ninja turtle!

[DEEP3CL]

LOL corona has us listed as "Clippers" I know yeah it was a typo.........

[MHZ]

I'll be in the house - gonna get ugly, no doubt.

[Shady08]

Go Nuggets! Hopefully Melo can have a nice game along with AI and the rest of the team. Hopefully no more Jones PLEASE! Man that K-Mart picture is priceless....hahaha

[el loco]

We really need Nene to stay out of foul trouble early in this game.

The Lakers are already in mid season form and will be rested. They have the confidence of knowing that they can beat us. This game will be a good measuring stick of where we are at as a team. It would be nice to pull out a win and let the Lakers know that the Western Conference won't be a cake walk, but I would be content with the loss if we make them earn the victory.

[eathy]

how long until game starts?

[Shady08]

~30 minutes

[Shady08]

Holy cow! Melo shaved his head!!!!

[corona]

no more cornrows for melo. its all gone.

i like it. just looks strange after knowing him forever with cornrows.

[Shady08]

It's time for the new Melo!

[JRMelo15]

Dang Melo spottin' a new look hehe...Lets go Nuggets!!!

[eathy]

its not the same without the cornrows

[iaaa99]

We look good in defense. Melo a lillte bit rusty

[Ewingfan]

Melo looks strange without the conrows. Its effecting his game. lol. Nah but really I like the way he's passing the ball. Damn A.C is taking advantage of all the attention the Lakers are paying to A.I and Carmelo. Good Half. Nice defense but they getting killed on the offensive boards.

[SnakefromHell]

Man I'm loving the defense of this team... last season, we'd given up at least 4-5 more baskets in the paint.

The positional defense by guys like Nene, KMart, Howard, Andersen, small guys like AI, Carter, Smith helping out the bigs to fill the paint... guys are recovering and rotating quickly to shooters... this is brand new Nugget defense. I hope it stays for anotehr 24 minutes... and the whole season.

This is the kind of hard working Nuggets team from the 2002-03 season, the dirty work that guys like Howard and Andersen bring.

That hard foul by Howard on Bynum, I can't recall seeing one dirty play like that from last season. Not cheering on the possibility Bynum could be injured, but we need more dirty plays like that to build something on the defensive end.

That play by J.R., a pump fake three, and drive in for a 20 footer, he didn't have it last season. Guess he added something to his game after all... I'm loving this team!!!!

[CanNugget]

where the hell is nene