It's rush hour in Los Angeles. A new reason has emerged why the Lakers wouldn't mind making quick work of the Nuggets.
The Lakers have seen Utah go to Houston and take a 2-0 lead. With a quick series possible and the Jazz being the Lakers' next possible opponent, a drawn-out series against the Nuggets would not be considered ideal.
"Our potential opponent in the second round is already up 2-0, so we definitely need to take care of our opponent," guard Derek Fisher said.
Fisher, whose Lakers won Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series 128-114 on Sunday, knows very well the importance of tonight's Game 2 at the Staples Center. He needs only to look at the numbers.
In NBA history, teams having taken a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series are 191-13. That's a staggering winning percentage of .936.
"If you can win those first two games, it's tough for a team to think about, 'OK, now we have to win four of the next five games,' " Fisher said.
When it comes to facing a Phil Jackson team, it's so far been impossible. The Lakers coach is 17-0 after his team leads 2-0 in a best-of-seven series.
With that in mind, the Nuggets don't need much reminding about the urgency of tonight.
"This is a playoff game, a game that you don't mess around," Nuggets coach George Karl said.
Karl isn't. In order to get some more size, he's replacing 6-foot-2 Anthony Carter in the backcourt with 6-8 Linas Kleiza, who will play shooting guard while 6-foot Allen Iverson moves to the point.
"We want to start big and that's why I'm starting because we're having some problems down low," Kleiza said. "We have a size issue, and they do a great job using mismatches."
Sunday's biggest mismatch was Lakers center Pau Gasol breaking loose for 36 points. With Karl planning to stick with power forward Kenyon Martin on Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, he's looking for Kleiza, who scored 23 points Sunday, to provide defense inside as well as more early offense.
But there are trade-offs. Fisher said the move hampers the Nuggets' scoring off the bench and Jackson said it affects their ballhandling.
"We'd probably go back to full-court pressure that we like to use, little things that we can do to disrupt their advance of the ball," Jackson said.
As much as strategy, though, Jackson has been stressing to his players they can't relax after the easy win. Jackson and Bryant said the pressure is on the Lakers to hold serve at home, with Bryant saying the Nuggets are "still comfortable" because they can reach their goal of getting a split in Los Angeles.
"There's just a natural tendency to relax," Jackson said. "(The Lakers) have to come out and play hard and understand when they have the foot on the neck to keep it there."
If the Lakers can take a 2-0 lead, the sneaker on the Nuggets' neck will feel like a size 22.
"We're ready to go down there and try to get Game 2," Nuggets center Marcus Camby said. "It's all about trying to get some momentum, and, hopefully, it starts (tonight)."
For Karl, it starts with defense. He blamed everybody except the water boy for Game 1 lapses.
"There's no excuse for giving up over 120 points in a playoff game," Karl said. "That's the coaches' fault, that's players' fault, that's not-playing-hard-enough fault."
Sunday's loss brought out the worst in the Nuggets, who had four technicals. One was for a hard Carter foul on Bryant, with the Nuggets saying Bryant also should have been penalized for hitting Carter in the face.
The NBA didn't agree. A spokesman said there will be no further action.
Players on both teams, though, believe Game 2 will be clean. Lakers forward Lamar Odom is hoping fans won't continue to yell "DUI" at Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony because of his recent arrest on suspicion of drunk driving.
"That's tough," Odom said. "You don't like to see that."
What the Lakers want to see is a 2-0 lead, which historically has been the NBA's ultimate foot on the neck.
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