Top Sportsbooks

Monday’s Western Conference Finals Game 4

 (Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets)

Nothing will top LeBron James’ last second shot against the Orlando Magic in Cleveland, but Kobe Bryant’s three pointer with about a minute left in game had the same outcome as the Los Angeles Lakers win game three against Nuggets in Denver.

It was another exciting competitive game between the Nuggets and Lakers as the series moved to Denver in game three, but the Kobe and company were just too much for the Nuggets to handle down the stretch.

With the Lakers up 2-1 in the series the Nuggets officially have the backs up against the wall going into game four at home which in my opinion is a must win situation. The Nuggets are a great home team as they thrive off the dedicated home crowd who make the Pepsi Center one of the toughest places to play in the NBA, but like I have said before the Lakers are the best road team in the league and they proved that in game three.

The Nuggets put up a hell of a fight in game three, but both teams have struggled to close out the other when the game is on the line. There have been some great finishes so far in this series, but both teams have some pretty obvious fatal flaws.

After game three though I believe the Lakers are destined to win this series. Coming into this series I thought the Lakers would win the series in six or even seven games, but after the first two games of series Denver looked as if they could beat the heavily favored Lakers to advance to the NBA Finals. Now it seems the tables have turned in the Lakers favor as they seem impervious to the hostile Denver crowd.

I don’t think the Nuggets are out of it just yet, but if they lose game four in Denver there might be no turning back as the series goes back to Los Angeles.

One thing is for sure in game four the Nuggets will come out as if it is an elimination game and will be looking to even up the series before heading back to LA where the Lakers could take control of the series.

Even though the Nuggets will be in a must win situation, the Lakers will be on their game with their new found confidence after already stealing one game in Denver. Kobe Bryant continued to play well in Denver putting up 41 points in game four while Carmelo Anthony ended his 30+ point performance streak only scoring 21 points in the loss.

So in the beginning I said that I thought that series would go the distance, but I believe this series will be over in five games with the Lakers winning the next two. Every game has been close so far and I believe game four and five will be tight, but in the end we should see two more Laker wins and Kobe Bryant and company advancing to the NBA Finals for the second straight year.