This was not the new look that "Melo" as many of his teammates call him was looking for to begin the 2008-2009 season. He may have had a new look without his popular dreads but his play was awful as the Denver Nuggets hosted the 2-0 Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant scored 33 points and the Los Angeles Lakers nearly became the first team in three years to hold Anthony to single digits in a 104-97 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.
Kobe Bryant finally had his first Kobe-like MVP performance this season as he lead the Lakers to a fourth quarter comeback victory over the Denver Nuggets in Denver's home opener. Kobe scored 14 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to lead his team to a flawless record so far this season. The Lakers are 3-0 and flying high, however, the win over the Nuggets (104-97) was by no means impressive, especially for Andrew Bynum who went 0-1, and had an all-time low 4 points for the night, which may I add all came from the free throw line. It was definitely a good momentum booster as the Lakers will have a tough road ahead with a target on their back as the team to beat in the West. It was a pretty sloppy game for both teams, neither team was all that consistent with very disappointing performance from some of their stars. In Carmelo Anthony's first game of the season, coming off his two game suspension, he was noticeably rusty only hitting 5 of 15 from the floor for 13 points.
The only real bright spots for both teams were Anthony Carter, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant. Denver's point guard Anthony Carter had a great game with 20 points on 8 of 9 from the floor to go along with 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Gasol also had a solid game with 16 points and 12 boards as he continues to be a force making the move to his natural power forward position. Kobe stole the show in classic Kobe fashion in the fourth quarter, as he put the team on his back and went off for 14 points to quiet the Nuggets crowd who thought they'd beaten the best team in the West. Though the Lakers are only three games into the season, I'd have to say that the Lakers look as good as anyone in the league right now. If they can keep this up, the Christmas match up against the Boston Celtics in a Finals re-match should be a battle! I am hoping that the Lakers can get back at the Celtics for winning the NBA finals. Hopefully the Lakers show them how they can play and we'll have a good Christmas showdown!
NEXT MATCH UP: Battle of Los Angeles Part II Los Angeles Clippers @ Los Angeles Lakers Weds Nov. 5th 7:30 pm (PST)
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