Lakers 103, Nuggets 88
LAKERS 103, NUGGETS 88: Kobe Bryant scored 31 points and Andrew Bynum tied an NBA playoff record with 10 blocks as part of a triple-double to lead well-balanced Los Angeles to a dominant victory over visiting Denver in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series will be Tuesday at Staples Center.
Bynum’s 10 blocks equaled the mark held by Utah’s Mark
Eaton and Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon. Bynum added 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Every Lakers starter scored in double figures. Pau Gasol had 13 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, Ramon Sessions scored 14. Devin Ebanks, starting for suspended Metta World Peace, had 12 points, all in the first half.
After going 2 for 10 for eight points in the first half, Bryant scored 23 points in the second half.
Danilo Gallinari scored 19 for the Nuggets, who shot just 35.6 percent (32 of 90).
Los Angeles was content to run early with the Nuggets, the NBA’s highest-scoring team, but eventually dictated the tempo.
Steve Blake came off the bench for three 3-pointers to give the Lakers a 27-14 lead after one quarter. Denver shot just 5 of 20 in the opening quarter.
The Nuggets used a 13-4 run with Bryant on the bench to start the second quarter, trimming the lead to 31-27. Ebanks was 5 of 6 for 12 points in the first half and helped the Lakers head into halftime with a 50-40 lead.
The Lakers pushed the lead to 71-52 with 4:30 left on Bryant’s layup. Denver trimmed it to 71-60 less than two minutes later with an 8-0 run, but the Lakers stormed back to lead 77-64 after three quarters and were up by 21 at one point in the fourth quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Bynum’s triple-double was the first for the Lakers in the postseason since Magic Johnson had one in the 1991 Finals against Chicago. … Jordan Hill had 10 rebounds and eight points for Los Angeles. … The Lakers finished with 15 blocks. … Ty Lawson, Denver’s leading scorer, was 3 for 11 for seven points and didn’t score until the third quarter.