All over - LA by 9.

Caramelo Koala top scored with 31.

a bit random but .. LOL @ Mark Cuban calling Kmart a thug to Kmart's moms!! Kmart's response was hilarious! should be on you tube 4 those that hadnt seen it.

Great to see Odom turn up and the Lakers winning in the paint . Bring on game 6 !

it seems when the mello man dominaes, denver lose, and when he is quiet, nuggets win.

Whatseveryone else's thoughts on the mello man's impact?

I honestly believe the officials were told to favour a Lakers win, some absolute shocking calls against the Nuggets.

re Caramelo impact ...the issue is even more apparent with Cav's as when Lebron is dominating the other players stand around and watch ( no ball movement and they are much easier to defend ) ..with Nuggets the key issue is their role players , ( Martin , Smith even Birdman ) are not the same on the road so they ask more of Anthony .

you guys are talking about caramelo but you really should be talking about KING kobe and how he changed the game with his sweet breakaway dunks and awesome three-pointers i really couldn't believe how awesome he was oh man i can't hardly contain myself he is the best!

lol well played hereschenes :p

Apparently he played more of a double teamed / decoy role to get his big men involved according to the write up.

Nene means the world to the Nugs. Didn't see him in top scorers and noticed Odom had 4 blks and Gasol had 5 blks... LA size advantage maybe taking over...

A, I totally agree with you on that. There were so many calls against the Nuggets. Would love to see that foul that was called on Nene, the one that signalled his departure from the game. Absolute BS Call! He was called for the blocking foul, when it clearly was a charge. Honestly, that call might have changed the game..Nene is so valuable to the Nuggs.
Melo wasn't getting many calls late in the game.
It infuriates me how the Refs seem to favour Gasol, every call is for him. He gets soo many calls its ridicolous.

I see now that Nene fouled out in 26 minutes...

This is the type of really subtle things refs can do to change a series....

Don't beleive me?

Watch the next cavs/magic game and i will hand over a nut if the refs don't put Howard on the pine in foul trouble early....

Its not about having a Cavs/LA finals.... they don't care about that....

They just want series to go to 6 or 7 minimum.

'Its not about having a Cavs/LA finals.... they don't care about that....'

That's all they care about, 100 bucks Cavs win tomorrow.

So everyone is waking up finally. it's all about Kobe vs LeBron in the Finals - that's what the NBA is marketing so hard this year and will do everything in their power through the refs to get it

Don't ever mean they will just hand it but give all the advantages to the "right" team especially in a critical situation. Laugh all you want but you don't think the powers that be have an influence. If you were earning in the 6 figures in the NBA in cushy job as a ref- and you know the Commish just happens to say, nudge wink - say you missed a few calls on Howard the other day and tech or you know LeBron is driving hard and you know maybe he is getting hacked on the way - would just say oh yeah whatever nad NOT ever referee in a Finals

Yeah good one dcanwade fan now you are down playing it saying that the games aren't fixed like you have been protesting all the time BUT now the referees decide the outcome!!!

Well if that was the case explain how come Howard's tech, after the game has now been removed to avoid him gettting suspended for a game? Surely they wouldn't want him out there ensuring Cavs win the game!!

Sounds like you are clutching at straws!

A - It is more then likely the Cavs will win today as they are at home and the season is on the line so they are going to give it everything they have!

the referees are the way they "fix" the system. If you know basketball you know it's a game of momnetum. One critical blown call (or several as in the case of the NBA - ie Kings v Lakers) can totally mean the difference between one team coming out on top or not

You can't tell me Wade being untouchable in the 06 Finals didn't put Miamai over the top .. they wanted a superstar - they got it in Wade .. too bad he got injured - now they have LeBron

But between 2 evenly matched teams it only takes a few "favourable" calls for ONE team to take advantage and turn it to a WIN

exert from CBS on the net

Because the official's an idiot.

And I blame David Stern.


The NBA is heading down that path. Three times, Kenyon Martin has been called for a technical that was so ridiculous, Stern's people removed it after the fact. Bryant had one of his removed. Howard had his sixth technical expunged as well after Stern and his people studied what actually happened Tuesday night, as opposed to what the game official interpreted as happening.

Stern needs to hire some younger officials, people who don't seem so damn offended every time passion overflows, and then he needs to give them a directive: Don't allow the bullying and the badgering -- maybe pay attention when Cleveland's Mo Williams overhands a basketball off Dwight Howard's butt -- but for the love of God allow the players a second, maybe two, to experience some emotion during a big moment in a big game.

Otherwise, more and more people will pick up on the NBA's dirty little secret:

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that doesn't help after the fact though - after the team has already LOST !!!

coming from the frustrated Nuggets camp

After the game, Nuggets coach George Karl channeled his inner Stan Van Gundy, lamenting the fact that playoff games have turned into a contest of which coach can gripe the most in hopes of influencing the officials.

"I'm not going to get fined," said Karl, who proceeded to make comments that almost certainly will get him fined. "... It was a difficult whistle to play, no question about that. Every player in my locker room is frustrated, from guards to big guys. Look at the stat sheet. Gasol goes after at least 20 jump shots and 20 shots to the rim and gets one foul. Our big guys have 16. I don't know. Nene has six fouls; three or four of them don't exist. And it's frustrating when you take one of your big guys off the court for that many minutes.

"I think Stan Van Gundy says it right," Karl continued. "In the postgame, we're lobbying for the league to help us with the refereeing. And this is too good a series. It's too good of teams competing that we're sitting here just confused by the whistle."

None of what you just listed helps your cause. All you have shown is that the coaches aren't happy with the officials and also that more tech fouls have been issued this playoffs. BIG DEAL! Even in the NBL coaches complain about the officials in the playoffs.

Also you mentioned Howard's tech getting removed so he doesn't get suspended so that goes against what you think is going to happen!

You're still crying about Wade's foul shots in the finals. It doesn't matter if a player shoots 2 foul shots or 100 a foul is a foul. You go back and watch that series and I can assure you 90% were fouls, 5% were debatable and 5% probably weren't. The same as any other superstar gets. Wade and most other superstars are brilliant at drawing the foul. In fact, its possible this series Lebron vs Magic might take more foul shots then Wade did. OMG thats not possible for them to be fouled that many times when they are attacking the ring!!! ummmm yes it is when are attacking the ring constantly and are unable to be guarded!!

the NBA is getting pretty blatant and obvious in their arrogance - and as long suckers keep buying into it without question - then guess what ....
last year we were bombarded with LA v Celtics rivlary and lo and behold it came about - this year its about LeBron v Kobe - the battle of the kings - and it can still happen for all probability -

In any case even if they can't "help" BOTH superstars into the Finals - either one is good enough - the last thing NBA wants is 2 small markets Denver v Orlando in the Finals - you can take that to the BANK !!

Oh so now your story is changing from it is fixed from the start like Wrestling, to its the officials that create the outcome not the teams them selves. And now you are changing it saying the NBA is fixed as long as one team they want makes it to the finals. lol make up your mind please! Whatever happened to the whole season being fixed like you were originally talking about? Why is your story changing today?

There would be no surprise if at least ONE of the two TOP TEAMS makes it to the NBA Finals!

There would also be NO surprise if both of the two top teams makes it to the NBA finals!