Game Notes: Nuggets at Lakers

Monday, February 08 2010

by Graham Flashner

All week long, the Denver Nuggets talked the talk. George Karl said his team "knew what it took” to beat the Lakers. Chauncey Billups implied the Lakers weren't better than last year. Karl said the Lakers missed Trevor Ariza. Friday night, the Nuggets were missing their most important player, Carmelo Anthony, but no matter. It was Shootout at the OK Corral Night at Staples Center, and the most feared gunslinger in the League, Kobe Bryant, got upstaged by a spectacular performance from Billups (career-high 39 points, nine three-pointers).

What does it take to beat the Lakers these days? For starters, shoot 57.1 percent from the field, and 68 percent from beyond the arc. That's what Denver did in their 126-113 victory, which is why they're now 2-0 vs. their chief rival, and why the gap between Nos. 1 and 2 in the West is closing fast.

PRE-GAME

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