LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Lakers sent the Denver Nuggets a message in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, and that message was … “We’re really good at basketball.” Look, the bubble is exhausting. You can’t expect great basketball and great letter-writing.
The Lakers’ 126-114 game was not as close as the score indicated, nor was it nearly close enough for Nuggets coach Michael Malone to scream that the referees cost his team the game, though he clearly was in no mood to send them flowers. Malone noted “an extreme (foul) advantage for the Lakers in that first half,” but said he would watch the film and see why his team was on the wrong end of so many calls.