Two difficult potential matchups that scared most Lakers fans to the core, were eliminated in the first round.
The Denver Nuggets caved in to the undermanned Utah Jazz, imploding in six games. This takes out one of the major threats to the Lakers in this post season. Denver posed a serious challenge to the Lakers’ repeat hopes. The team made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals last year and gave the Lakers everything they could handle and more.
This season, it appeared that Denver had improved, adding the key rookie Ty Lawson at the point as well as the emerging Arron Affalo to go with the rest of their experienced team.
Other than the George Karl health issues that arose after the All-Star break, the Nuggets appeared to have the strength to give the Lakers a serious run. But, that all ended this past week in Utah.
The reason for Lakers Nation celebration is that Denver is a team of wild-cards, the ultimate in split personality. Game to game, we never knew who would show up. And, at least to me, that was always a scary proposition for the Lakers. Denver could light it up one game or light up themselves the next. Either way, they were rocket fuel, you just didn’t know where it would be pointed.
So, it turns out that Denver imploded in the Utah series and Lakers fans everywhere can exhale.
The other scenario that unfolded to the surprise of Lakers believers was that the rising powerhouse, the Dallas Mavericks, fell to the old, wise playoff dog, the San Antonio Spurs. Dallas looked poised to really challenge the Lakers this year.
With the trade deadline move of getting rid of the apathetic and depressed Josh Howard in favor of Caron Butler an...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
