The Utah Jazz fell apart in the last two months of the NBA season and provided little challenge to the Los Angeles Lakers, giving fans and the media no real indication of where the Lakers stood in terms of championship preparedness. The NBA Odds makers will undoubtedly be shading towards the Lakers as always with the fan favorites, but if the Rockets game was any indicator of the Lakers true championship spirit, then sportsbooks should be on alert.

The Houston Rockets, already playing without Tracy McGrady, lost All-Star Yao Ming and defensive force Dikembe Mutombo, and looked to be another easy win for the Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. But a funny thing happened. The Rockets never got the memo that they were supposed to roll-over and play dead.

Although they finally defeated the Rockets, the Lakers could never seem to put together solid back-to-back outings. Disinterested one night, active on the glass and in the passing lanes the next, the Lakers were a portrait of inconsistency that left coach Phil Jackson shrugging his shoulders and doing his best to act like he wasn’t concerned.

But anyone who watched could see that the Lakers never seemed to bring the requisite fire when they had a chance to put the Rockets out of their misery. Not until the final game, anyhow.

The Denver Nuggets, on the other hand, spent the first few weeks of the playoffs finely tuning an offensive and defensive machine that simply shredded through the New Orleans Hornets and Dallas Mavericks in the first two rounds. Now, a series many sports handicappers predicted would happen and one that would end in a sure-bet Lakers victory, becomes extremely intriguing.

The Nuggets have had talent for several years now, but it seems they have rebelled against their coach and their own better judgment, refusing to play consistently solid defense and having mental meltdowns at inopportune times. Two things changed that: Carmelo Anthony’s experience in the summer Olympics and the addition of Chauncey Billups at point guard.

Anthony realized after watching the commitment that Kobe and LeBron James put into their preparation at both ends of the floors that their success was not due to offense alone. Furthermore, with Bryant, James, Chris Paul and Co. scoring in bunches, Anthony realized he would not need to be the workhorse on offense, so he would help however he could.

“After the Olympics, I just remember thinking, ‘Why not bring this back to my own team?’” Anthony said. “It’s always been to a lot of people about what I didn’t do. So I said: ‘If I need to rebound better, I will. If I need to pass it more, if I need to play better defense, okay, I’ll do it. I know I’ve had seasons where I score more, but I think this has been, by far, my best season.”

It also helped that Anthony finally decided to burry the hatchet with coach George Karl and that the Nuggets added another coach, one that wears a uniform.

Billups, who will certainly now enter the discussion of active players who may make it into the Hall of Fame, is entering his seventh consecutive conference finals. A proven winner who has no trouble leading both on and off the court, he has brought a steady hand to this team that has won 22 of its last 27 games. His temperament and leadership have helped with both Anthony, the mercurial Kenyon Martin and the emotional Chris Andersen.

Anthonys leadership will be a key to keeping his team together when they face adversity on the road in Los Angeles, whether that be from heckling crowds or fishy officiating. But his play on the court will be equally important.

Derrick Fisher proved in the semi-finals that he has undoubtedly lost a step, and Billups will need to get by him and look for open shooters not name Carmelo against the Lakers, as they will throw double teams and multiple looks at the all-star in the series.

The Lakers will need to get continued big time production from Pau Gasol, who will face a taller team in the Nuggets than he did in the second round against depleted Houston. The Lakers other big, Andrew Bynum, will also need to continue to show improvement as he re-integrates himself into the offense. The battles down low between Nene, Martin and Andersen for the Nuggets vs. Gasol and Bynum could determine the outcome of this series.

Of course, the wild card is Kobe Bryant, who is going to the lane less and less as he comes to rely on his jump shot and teams play him tightly on the perimeter. Dahntay Jones will have almost no chance of slowing him down, so Karl will need to get his team to commit to strong team defense, or Bryant may dice them up. If they can contain him to some degree, it will come down to Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza, Sasah Vujacic and Luke Walton being able to knock down open looks. While they stepped up at various times throughout the Rockets series, I dont see that group coming up in the clutch consistently enough against the Lakers.

But I think Bryant has noticed all of this talk about whether LeBron is as good as Jordan and some speculation that the pre-ordained matchup between #23 and #24 now rests squarely on the shoulders of Bryant getting his team to the NBA Finals. He can smell the challenge ahead, and more than any player since Jordan, he savors the chance to stick a dagger in multiple people at once.

This series could come down as a referendum on which team gets along better and plays together best as a team. Who would have ever thought that the team that symbolizes team-first effort and 100 percent intensity would be the Nuggets?

About the Author

This young gun has made quite the name for himself in the handicapping world at the early age of only 31. Don’t let Kurt’s age scare you because he would be the Oddsboard trivia captain in the subject of team or player history. You can plan to stay ahead of the books this year with the sharp eye of Kurt Poway.