Sixers 108, Nuggets 105

In their second meeting since the return of Allen Iverson to Philadelphia, the Sixers held off a late surge by the Nuggets to win at the Pepsi Center.

Despite having an 8 point lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, some big shots by Ty Lawson (23 points) ended up putting the Nuggets within 1 point with seconds to go. After a Willie Green missed the second free throw, Andre Iguodala came up with a huge offensive board, sending him to the line. After he missed the second free throw, the Nuggets were down 3 with 5 seconds to go. Unfortunately an Affalo three rimmed out, and Nene was unable to shoot the putback 3 in time (KG is still better, G).

Allen Iverson’s return to the Pepsi center went well – he scored 17 points in his second game against his former team. Elton Brand had another big game off the bench – 16 points, 7 rebounds in 34 minutes.

The Nuggets were without Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, and they lost Chris Andersen (severly sprained ankle) in the middle of the second quarter. Nene (24 points) and Lawson (23) were able to mount the comeback late in the fourth quarter. Aaron Affalo and Kenyon Martin also finished with 17 points apiece.

Lakers 131, Mavs 96

This one…wasn’t really close at all.  The Mavs got off to some horrible shooting (I might dub this New Jersey Nets Syndrome) and found themselves down 17 at the end of the first quarter. The Lakers never looked back.

Kobe Bryant tied Patrick Ewing for 15th on the all-time scoring list, and Jordan Farmar set his career high in scoring (24 points) to lead the Lakers in the win.

What impressed me more about this win was that the Lakers took on what was considered an elite Western Conference team and dismantled them. They played team ball throughout, with 7 players scoring in double figures and the team shooting 63% from the field. Amdrew Bynum’s only miss came from the foul line (8-8 FG, 3-4 FT) – he finished with 19 points. Oh, and the Lakers shot 58% from three.

-Duts