Denver vs L.A.

In the 2008 NBA playoffs the Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs but this year the nuggets are coming in with momentum. They pretty much dominated the competition in the first 2 rounds and are a bigger challenge to the Lakers than anyone knows. 

L.A. must come out with a sense of urgency if they want to beat this hungry Denver Nuggets team. They want pay back for L.A. embarrassing them last year and what better way than to stop the lakers championship run.

Tune into TNT on Tuesday Night for game 1 of the Western Conference finals L.A. Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets @ the Staples Center.

Next stop- Western Conference Finals

Houston put up a good fight but they just weren't enough to hold off the Lakers at home in a game 7 playoff game. Experience was the key and with veterans like Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher who have been in big time games such as this one Houston was no match. 

Once again L.A. dominated this game from the opening tip and Houston was no match for the Lakers on that night. 

With only 8 wins left before they realize their dreams of being NBA champions the Lakers can almost see the final prize but will they take it? Stay tuned

Round Two.... Almost Complete

After losing game 4 in such an embarrassing way L.A came out on a mission to prove to everyone that they are still the favorites in the west. They pretty much ruled game 5 from the very beginning and never looked back as the catch up game was too much for the Rockets. The lakers one game 5 in a dominate way scoring 118 to only 78 points by the Rockets. Way to prove the critics wrong.

But Houston wasn't quite ready to give up, they came back at home in game 6 desperate to take this series back to L.A and thats what they did beating the lakers 95-80 and forcing the Lakers to have to beat them in L.A.

Home court Advantage

Lakers lost home court in Game 1 on the 2009 western conference Semi-finals against the Houston Rockets. 

In a shocking turn of events the heavily favorites Los Angeles Lakers lost game one at home to a Houston Rockets team who came in without their injured star Tracy McGrady.

Houston Held L.A. who averages over 107 points per game to only 92 points beating them 100-92. The lakers players and coaching staff didnt seem to take the loss seriously, they blamed their long rest on the loss and in game 2 went out to prove that they were still the team to beat. They won game 2 at home 108-94 before losing game 4 87-99.

No one expected this series to go down to the wire like this especially after yao ming went down in game 3. Everyone pretty much counted Houston out but they went out to prove everyone wrong.

Dominant

The Lakers started the playoffs against the Jazz and dominated the first two games like everyone expected them to. They won game 1 100-113 to take a one game lead against the Jazz.

Utah came out in game to to get redemption and try to steal the home court away from L. A. but were unsuccessful, They lost game 2 109-119 in L.A and prepared to take the series back to utah down 2-0. 

The Jazz were feeling the momentum of being at home where they had an excellent record during the regular season. They came out ready to play and surprised the Lakers beating them 88-86 and handing L.A. their first loss in the playoffs.

The Jazz tried to go into game 4 with the same energy that they had in game 3 when they surprised the Lakers with an L but the intensity wasn't there that night. The Lakers came out and beat them 108-94 and proved that the one win that they did get was nothing but a fluke. 

Game 5 rolled around and it was time to come back to L.A. The Lakers were up 3 games to 1 and preparing to end this series once and for all. They came in from the beginning with one thing and one thing only on their minds and that was ending the series, and thats exactly what they did. They came out with intensity and beat the Jazz 107-96 to win the series and move on to face the winner of the Houston and Portland series in the 2nd round.

Positions locked in

The 2009 NBA playoffs are under way and because of L.A's win over the Utah Jazz in the final game of the season, Jazz dropped to the No.8 playoff spot in the Western Conference and have the task of taking on the No.1 seeded Lakers in the first round.

There are some really good and potentially close matchups in the Western Conference this year. One series that should be very interesting is the No.2 Dallas Mavericks taking on the No. 7 San Antonio Spurs. Although San Antonio is coming into the series without one of their stars Manu Ginobili no one is counting out the Spurs, not yet at least.

The No. 3 Denver Nuggets will take on the No.6 seeded New Orleans Hornets. After making a huge impact in the playoffs last year the pressure is on the Hornets to come out and make it far in these playoffs, but the Nuggets may have other plans for them.

The last series in the Western Conference playoffs is between the No.4 seed Portland Trailblazers and the No. 5 seed Houston Rockets. This may be the only series in the Western Conference where the team with the home court advantage are the underdogs. 

Questionable games

It was been a different type of week for the Lakers. With a remaining schedule that most playoff bound teams would love, they don't seem to be taking much advantage of it. They started off well with a 15- point win over the Detroit Pistons and a 8 point victory over the New Jersey Nets until falling to the Atlanta Hawks 76-86. 

To make matters worst they then lost 2 nights later to the Charlotte Bobcats, who are one of the worst teams in the entire NBA 84-94. The Lakers who average over 109 points per game during the season were held under 100 points 2 games in a row. 

With the regular season winding down the Lakers are not showing positive signs of what's to come in the playoffs. Its coming down to the wire and now is the time to step up to the plate. Will they respond?