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Kobe, Lakers try to take 2-0 lead over Denver

Wed 23rd, April 2008

(Sports Network) - The top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers can take a 2-0 lead over the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets, as the teams square off tonight at the Staples Center in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

On Sunday, Pau Gasol finished with 36 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists as the Lakers used a strong second half to blitz the Nuggets, 128-114, in Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series at the Staples Center.

Superstar Kobe Bryant netted 18 in the fourth quarter and ended with 32 points in the win for the Lakers. Lamar Odom contributed 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Luke Walton added 16 points off the bench.

Carmelo Anthony recorded 30 points and 12 rebounds in the loss for the Nuggets. Allen Iverson also scored 30 while dishing out seven assists before he was ejected with 2:10 left in the fourth quarter. Iverson received a pair of technicals for arguing with referee Ken Mauer. Linas Kleiza chipped in 23 points in defeat.

Denver is scheduled to host the Lakers on Saturday at the Pepsi Center in Game 3 of this best-of-seven series.

The Nuggets have lost 14 straight Game 2s in the postseason. The last time Denver won the second game of a playoff series was against the Lakers on May 4, 1985 in the Western Conference finals.

LA has won two of its last Game 2s in the playoffs.

The Lakers were 3-0 against the Nuggets during the regular season. LA defeated Denver twice at the Staples Center and on December 5 at the Pepsi Center.

This is the fourth time these teams have met in the postseason. The Lakers are a perfect 3-0 against the Nuggets, as they defeated Denver in the first round of the playoffs in 1979 and 1987. The Lakers also knocked out the Nuggets in five games, 4-1, in the 1985 West finals.

The Lakers have been eliminated two straight years by the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs. They lost in seven games in 2006 and in five during the opening round of the 2007 postseason.

During the regular season, Los Angeles won its first Pacific Division crown since the 2003-04 campaign, when Shaquille O'Neal was trying to lead the Lakers to their fourth title in five years.

The Nuggets have advanced to the playoffs for the fifth straight year. They have been eliminated four straight years in the opening round of the postseason, and are 4-16 during that span. They fell in five games in the opening round to Minnesota in 2004, San Antonio in 2005, 2007 and the Clippers in 2006.

The last time the Nuggets advanced to the second round of the playoffs was during the 1994 postseason. Denver upset the Seattle SuperSonics in five games, 3-2, in the opening round that season, but was ousted in seven games by Utah in the Western semifinals.

Denver was 17-24 on the road this season, while the Lakers were 30-11 as the host.

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