May 20, 2009 (Part 3); Lakers escapes Nuggets, leads 1-0

It was a neck-and-neck battle up towards the final buzzer.

But one team emerged victorious, and that's the Lakers.

The Lakers prevented an upset at home as they held on to defeat the Denver Nuggets, 105-103, to lead their best-of-seven Western Conference Finals series at 1-0.

The Nuggets were dominating the start of the game, making shot every shot. But the Lakers made a run which gave them the lead at halftime via a three-point shot from Derek Fisher.

But it was a shootfest between the two Olympic gold medalist, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant.

Kobe makes a basket on one end, and Carmelo counters on the other end.

Carmelo finished the game with 39 points, while Kobe had 40, which made the difference.

The turning point of the game came with 30 seconds left in the game, when Kenyon Martin fouled Kobe Bryant, which gave the Lakers the one point lead, 100-99.

Chauncey Billups tried to make the game more interesting after making a three-point basket, reducing the Laker lead to just one, 103-102. But the Nuggets simply cannot handle Kobe tonight, as he's always the recipient of the ball, leading to foulshots.

Kobe calmly made every free throw shot down the stretch, much to the dismay of the Nuggets.

Kobe led the Lakers with 40 points, on 13 out of 28 from the field and 12 out of 13 from the charity stripe, along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher both had 13 points, with Gasol having 14 rebounds and Fisher with 6 assists. Lamar Odom only had seven markers, while Trevor Ariza and Andrew Bynum had six points each.

Carmelo led the Nuggets with 39, on 14 out of 20 from the field, with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Chauncey Billups had 18 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Kenyon Martin made 15 points and 8 rebounds. Nene had 14 points and 5 rebounds, while J.R. Smith and Chris Andersen both tallied with eight points, with Smith having 5 rebounds and 3 assists and the Birdman with 5 boards.

Game 2 will be on Friday, May 22 at 9:00 AM, still from Los Angeles.

Game 1
Denver 103
LA Lakers 105
STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, California
DEN: Carmelo Anthony- 39 pts, 6 rebs, 4 assts.
LAL: Kobe Bryant- 40 pts, 6 rebs, 4 assts.
Lakers lead series 1-0
Game 2 on Friday, May 22 at 9:00 AM from the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.

PBA games tonight guys! Results will be posted after the games!

The Wizard was here... :)