Uh yeah, I’ve been out for a long time but I’m now back for this site’s constant influx of Lakers Game Reviews. Sunday (Saturday in Colorado time) was the first official road trip of the Lakers as they faced Carmelo and the Denver Nuggets — a team that the Lakers swept in last year’s playoffs.

As older people say, some things never change. Even if the referees tried to call it in Denver’s favor (or at least that was what I felt), the Lakers can find no ways to lose to the Denver Nuggets as they notched their eighth straight win against the Nuggets. In-depth discussion and exaggeration on these shit calls will be on 10 Observations corner. Carmelo Anthony came back for the Nuggets but he was rendered ineffective until the game was already out of reach for the Nuggets when they were already fouling and sending Laker players to the freethrow line. There was no stopping to the 8-game Laker streak over Denver dating back from last year.

After this week, the Lakers schedule will be pretty quiet with only one game for the week against the Los Angeles Paper Clips (remember the 38 point beating that they recieved from the Lakers). I think it’s going to be much less than that but the Lakers would surely win by more than 15 points.

Also, Joel Meyers is annoying.

10 Observations from Game 3 of 82:

• Andrew Bynum was the target of the referees during this game. I swear to God, the refs for this game were shit. He was called with two quick ones during the first quarter, he had his third on the second quarter, he got his fourth early in the third and then he eventually almost fouled out.
• Joining Andrew Bynum in the list of players who were in foul trouble were Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic and a couple of other Lakers. I think even Jordan Farmar was a constant victim of the referees’ shit calls. There were more than 5 Lakers in foul trouble.
• LA made Anthony FREAKING Carter look like a Kobe Bryant or a Michael Jordan in this game. He shot 7 of 7 in the first half alone for 16 points with 2 three pointers. He was one of the reasons why Denver went up on the Lakers when halftime came. He was torching the Lakers’ Defense.
• Carmelo Anthony’s got a new haircut. Probably a start to an image change for Melo? Hopefully this will be the start of his maturity as the Nuggs’ franchise player. He was throwing up bricks and failing to find his range up to just when the game was about to be decided.
• Somehow the Laker defense that held Portland to 76 and the Clippers to 79 was tested in this game. The Nugget offense which just scored 118 in their previous game versus the Clippers was held to 97 by the Lakers. It’s a headstart. If LA did not go into foul trouble, it could have been lower.
• The bench was not as productive as the previous two games. Well especially Jordan Farmar. He could not make a shot to save his life and his play-making was a bit shaky. Sasha Vujacic was… well not the Machine who is firing from all cylinders. He had a shot that hit the side of the board.
• Joining Sasha and Jordan in the rank of bench players who had not much impact is Lamar Odom. Spare him the trade talks but he was ineffective was because he had three fouls in the first quarter alone. He would have done more than 10 points and 2 assists.
• Pau Gasol was the only Laker star who was not in foul trouble, and he really took advantage of it. He played well in stretches where the other stars of the KGB connection were benched. I could just imagine where will the Lakers be in that stretch without Pau Gasol.
• Kobe Bryant was quiet during the first half but when it was already time to win, he erupted in the fourth quarter. He converted on an array of jumpers and layups but the best shots of him for me is his pull-up three pointer that put the Lakers up by 7 and the lay-in that put them up by 4 with one minute to go when the Nuggets were threatening to come back.
• Collectively, the Lakers played as crappy and as shitty as they could have played and they still won over the Nuggets.  Well that’s a good sign for the Lakers as they continue their journey in the rough and rowdy West — that they can finish and win ugly games. They only had 18 assists compared to Denver’s 30 dimes.

Hero of the Game: Kobe Bryant. Time and again, Kobe has bailed out the Lakers in compromising situations. This game is no different as Kobe sizzled for 33 to lift LA past Denver. Don’t anger The Mamba, Denver! You will surely get what you are asking for!

Zero of the Game: Carmelo Anthony. This is definitely not the best way to bounce back from a two-game team suspension for his DUI charges last year. 5-15 from the field ain’t they way to come back, Melo.

Laker Grades for Game 3 of 82:

• Kobe Bryant, A+. Kobe was booed to death everytime he touched the ball but in the end he had the last fucking laugh as he torched the Nuggets in the fourth quarter. There’s your CLOSER!
• Pau Gasol, A. Pau was holding up when most of the stars were in foul trouble. Also, he put Chris Andersen on his poster when the cocky guy was swatting almost every Laker attempt.
• Andrew Bynum, C. Andrew’s on the wrong track after signing his hefty 58-million extension. Getting into foul trouble isn’t the way to get motivated after a max extension.
• Vladimir Radmanovic, B. Vlad’s off to a great start this season. He took a major part in locking down Carmelo Anthony in this game. I can’t believe I just said that but it’s true!
• Derek Fisher, B-. Fish led the Lakers in assists (4) and he hit a couple of threes in this game. Good thing he’s in one of my fantasy leagues.
• Lamar Odom, B-. He was saddled with foul trouble in the first quarter but somehow he found a way to score 10 points. And he remained with 3 fouls for the whole game.
• Sasha Vujacic, C. He needs new batteries or he needs to be re-oiled. Whatever it takes to get back The Machine to full functionality. He hit two shots but he bricked one so badly.
• Jordan Farmar, D. Farmar was miserable for this game. Based from the previous two games, surely he can do better than 1 out of 8 from the field with only one assist to boot.
• Trevor Ariza, B. Ariza hit a key three-point shot in the fourth quarter. His stroke is really getting better. He probably will start in a few games time Radmanovic is also getting better on defense! It’s a nice problem to have.
• Chris Mihm, D. I did not see Chris Mihm on the box score. I didn’t see him either in the game. He’s flunking for this grading for being not able to play any minutes at all.
• Josh Powell, B-. 4 points and 4 reboundsfrom Josh Powell is really not bad considering he only played sparely but he had the worst +/- figure at -8.
• Luke Walton, D. Luke only played for what, less than one minute and then he was sent out of the game. That’s almost not playing at all. It’s really hard to be in his place now. Good thing he’s not really complaining. I hope to see the good ol’ Luke.

Play of the Game:

Just when you thought “The Birdman” Chris Andersen was blocking every shot attempt by the Lakers…

In the words of Stu Lantz… BLOCK THIS!!!