This game is about heart.  We will see what players on the Nuggets roster care and which ones do not.  Phoenix was in the same situation in game four.  They knew no one has ever come back and won a series after getting down three games to none, but all they cared about was making sure their season would not end at home at the hands of a hated rival.

Win or lose tonight, I just want to see some heart from this team.  For two and a half hours put a stop to the soap opera backstabbing and high school musical drama.

So it comes to this.  I am pleading with you Denver, show us some heart.

Make sure you head over to Forum Blue and Gold, the NBA.com Series Blog and the Los Angeles Times Lakers Blog for other game four insights.

Today is do or die for the Nuggets.  A loss in game three will bring to an end to any hopes, even for the most myopic fan, that the Nuggets have any shot at winning this series.

Of course, a win in game three will make game four a site to behold. 

The Nuggets are very good at home, but the Lakers have been almost as good on the road.  LA was 27-14 on the road this season and 7-6 on the road against Western Conference playoff teams.

The Lakers are 5-0 against Denver this season, but only one of those five games took place in Denver and that was the closest game of the five.  AI scored 51, but he had absolutely no help from any other Nugget.  In the fourth quarter the Lakers stopped doubling Melo and started doubling AI.  Melo was not able to pick up the slack and LA won by four.

One of the big refrains from Nugget fans has been they are at their best when their backs are against the wall.  Well, do not look now, but their backs are against a wall in a long narrow hallway that is about two feet wide.

I have a hard time envisioning the Nuggets playing better defense than they did in game two.  They can play better, but most likely will not.  Probably the only area Denver can significantly improve in on defense is avoiding situations where Eduardo Najera is matched up with Kobe.

They will have to make their biggest step forward on offense.  Anything short of 25 fast break points and 25 assists will be bad for Denver.  They absolutely must push the pace and take advantage of the Lakers double teams on Melo.

Make sure you visit Forum Blue and Gold, the LA Times Lakers Blog and the NBA.com Series Blog before the game.

Better late than never?

Sorry for out technical issues today.

For our game two Game Thread/preview let’s start off with a few links. 

First of all I was honored to be a guest on the Purple, Gold and Blue podcast with Andrew and Brian Kamenetzky from the LA Times which you can listen to by clicking here .

You can find a nice group of links  from Dave McMenamin on the NBA.com Nuggets/Lakers series blog.

David Thorpe put together a very good scouting report heading into game two on ESPN.com.

The incomprobale Matt Moore has a good article on Five Things to Keep an Eye On in game 2 at the AOL Fanhouse.

And make sure you head over to Forum Blue and Gold where Kurt worries if Kobe is going to get caught up in the mano a mano with Kenyon at the Lakers expense.

As far as changes for tonight we have Linas Kleiza in the starting lineup replacing Anthony Carter and a potential appearance from Nene.  For game two that makes two improvements over what the Nuggets had in game one. 

The presence of Kleiza will help alleviate the many of the mismatches the Nuggets struggled with in, but with Kenyon Martin still set up to guard Kobe Bryant the Nuggets will still be lacking in the interior. 

Another potential problem with Kleiza in the lineup is the Nuggets did not look like they had any confidence in his ability to cover Luke Walton in the post during game one.  In the Pickaxe and Roll Denver Nuggets Film Room segment from game one I included a clip of Walton the Younger posting up Kleiza.  There were three other Nuggets waiting to help LK handle Walton in the paint. 

I am glad Kleiza is starting, but if he needs just as much help in the post against Walton or Radmanovic, what is the point?

Nene’s presence will hopefully be a boost to the Nuggets interior defense, but his minutes will be limited as they should be.  It is a big request to have a guy who has missed far more games than he has played in to jump into playoff basketball atmosphere and perform, but the Nuggets need him bad enough that we cannot concern ourselves with such trivialities.  Nene’s biggest impact may be on the offensive end though.  He was able to score over and over on Tim Duncan in last year’s playoffs.  What do you think he can do to Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Vladamir Radmanovic? 

Hopefully there will be another change from game one on display tonight and that would be some semblance of passion and extra effort from the Nuggets.  I bet we see it, but you can never know for sure from this group.

In my mind there is really nothing else to say.  We know the rest of the story.  The Lakers swarmed to Denver’s bucket like miller moths to a light bulb in game one and that must change.  Denver was at their best offensively when they ran and attacked the basket immediately.  J.R. Smith needs to be more judicious with his fouls. 

If the Nuggets do those things they can win, if not we will be left wondering if they are going to win at least one of their two home games or lose both and get swept.

In case you missed any of my previews and one radio interview I have completed so far you can follow the links below to get caught up.

20 Questions at Hardwood Paroxysm

Ball Don't Lie preview

Forum Blue and Gold preview

Sports Hub LA preview

ESPN Radio 710 AM interview

Now that you are back with us it is time to take one last look at this series and I will point out a few things that I have yet to mention anywhere else so far.

 - I have barely mentioned Kenyon Martin and he can play a huge role in this series.  As Brian from LA Sports Hub pointed out in his analysis of how to beat the Lakers, Lamar Odom has been great since the Gasol trade.  Kenyon is one of the few players in the league that can handle Odom defensively.  Brian also pointed out that the Lakers do not like being played physically.  Playing physical in the playoffs is something the Nuggets, especially Kenyon, do very well.  I thought another reason the Lakers would be a bad matchup for Denver was because there was no Tim Duncan for Kenyon to beat on.  If Kenyon gets a hold of Odom or Gasol in the paint, he may get a chance to play the physical post defense he enjoys so much.

 - Before the All-Star break Marcus Camby was averaging 14.3 boards and 3.9 blocks.  After the All-Star break those numbers have dropped to 11.1 and 3.2.  He did play a minute and a half less a game, but I do not think we can accredit the drop off to that.  I have mentioned several times that Camby has looked worn down.  Well, there is a good reason for that.  Marcus has played 390 more minutes this season than his previous career high which interestingly enough was set just last season.  Those 390 minutes average out to an extra 11 or 12 games of wear and tear.  He also set a new career high of 79 games played in 07-08.  At the age of 34 and with the build of a corn stalk there is no wonder he has looked sluggish.  Hopefully the abundance of off days in this series can help Marcus get his 14 and 4 mojo back.  Or find a 20 and 5 mojo.  That would be even better.

 - I have not written much about Carmelo Anthony.  Melo has performed better and better with each postseason appearance he has made.  (Well, he may not have been better against the Clippers in 2006 than he was against the Spurs in 2005, but the he was not any worse.)   Last year against the Spurs, he was tremendous as he shot 47.5% and averaged 25 points and over eight rebounds.  He even shot 9-13 on threes.  I expect Melo to have a very good series, but the Nuggets will need more than just a big series from Melo to win four before they lose four.

 - The same goes for Allen Iverson.  I expect him to play well, but the Nuggets will need at least two players out of the group of Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby, J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza to have big games every night for them to have a chance.

 - The Nuggets always seem to have a difficult time guarding some secondary player in the playoffs.  Everyone from Trenton Hassel to Michael Finley has burned them in big moments over the previous four postseasons.  The Lakers have several players who could fill that role this season.  Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar, Ronny Turiaf and Derek Fisher are all good candidates to be that guy this season.

 - The Lakers have announced that the Nuggets will not have to worry about seeing Andrew Bynum as he will miss at least the first round of the playoffs.  From the Nuggets side I do not expect to see Nene play in this series either.  To my knowledge the Nuggets have not come out and said that and I believe the official word from George Karl is he hopes that Nene will be able to play.  I find it unlikely.

 - I do not see the benefit of making any changes to the starting lineup now.  Anthony Carter will be seriously overmatched by Kobe Bryant, but no other player on the roster aside from J.R. has a chance to even slow Kobe down (Kuba Diawara is too slow). 

 - Everyone likes to talk about how the Nuggets have two all world players in AI and Melo and that is true, but the Lakers top three players are better than they are given credit for.  Obviously Kobe may be the best player on the planet.  Gasol is a very skilled big man and his versatility is the key to his ability to fit in with the Lakers seamlessly after he arrived from Memphis.  Odom may be one of the most underrated players in the league.  He can score, rebound and pass as well as any small forward not named LeBron in the league.  Both he and Gasol are in the perfect situation with Kobe playing the role of Frank Drebin to their Detective Nordberg. 

 - Another thing I have yet to mention is the Lakers have a pretty big advantage between the men that will be wearing a suit and tie.  Phil Jackson may not be the best X and O coach around, but he can help talented players focus and play to their potential.  I do not believe we can say the same thing about George Karl.  With the matchup issues the Nuggets will face, I am not sure what Karl can do.  He will have to develop a good strategy of when to go zone, when to double Kobe and when to play straight up.  He is certainly capable of making the correct decision in those situations.  The question if he does will be will it make a difference in the outcome?

Finally, I want to apologize to the optimistic Nugget fans out there.  I try to be realistic and calculating about the Nuggets.  My purpose here is to study the situation and report what I see.  It seems most places I post something or talk about the upcoming series it comes across like I am preparing for a week long colonoscopy.  The Nuggets may very well be the best eighth seed in the history of the NBA playoffs.  They certainly can play with any team in the league.  Yes, I fully expect them to lose this series, but they certainly can pull off the upset.  My point is, I could be a cheerleader and say go Nuggets we can do it, but what good does that do us?  I certainly hope I am wrong and over the next two weeks, or however long this series may last, I am writing post after post about how the Nuggets are doing what I was unable to comprehend.  I just have seen far too much of this team to buy into their chances to win this series. 

I am picking the Lakers in six.  I believe five of those six games will be close in the fourth quarter and anything can happen in close playoff games.  I just cannot foresee a scenario where the Nuggets win four out of seven from this Laker squad.

As always, let’s have a good chat during the game.  My son is playing in an AAU tournament tomorrow so I may be in and out, but I will do my best to take part.