Supporting Casts Lifts Lakers Past Nuggets 92-88

Crunch time for the Los Angeles Lakers usually belongs to Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol.
Not this time.
Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake put the dagger in the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, swishing 3-pointers in the final minute to lead the Lakers to a 92-88 comeback win that gave L.A. a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven first-round series.
The Lakers can wrap it up Tuesday night when the series shifts back to Southern California for Game 5.
Bryant (22 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and Bynum (19 points, seven boards and three blocks) had bounce-back games and Gasol came up with huge plays at both ends as the Lakers controlled the tempo by grabbing 19 offensive rebounds, stymieing the faster, younger Nuggets who blew them out in Game 3.
With the game tied in the final minute, however, it was the Lakers' supporting cast that iced it.
"They got the two 3s to go down at the end of the game," Nuggets coach George Karl said, "but conceptually what we're trying to do at the end of the game is not let Kobe, Bynum and Gasol beat you."
Instead, it was Sessions and Blake — after top reserve Jordan Hill sparked a comeback from a six-point halftime deficit with a double-double off the bench.

AP

Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Blake, left,... View Full Caption

Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Blake, left, blocks a shot by Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari, center, of Italy, as Lakers guard Kobe Bryant looks on in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 92-88 victory in Game 4 of the teams' first-round NBA basketball series in Denver on Sunday, May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Close

"Sessions has hit big 3s. Even when I was out he hit some big 3s to win games. He did it again tonight. I have confidence in him," Bryant said. "If you're observing the game in the third quarter, I hit Sessions for an open shot, Blake for an open shot and (Matt) Barnes for an open shot and they missed all three of them. George, being observant as he is, saw I was (ticked). I was and (he) didn't think I would trust them at the end of the game to knock down those shots, but they stepped up and knocked them down."

With the game tied at 86, Danilo Gallinari was covering Bryant when a hard screen from Gasol sent the Italian to the floor grabbing his throat. While Gallinari stayed down, Sessions' 3-pointer from just in front of the Nuggets bench put the Lakers ahead 89-86 with 48 seconds remaining.
"It was a tough pick, you've got to expect that in the playoffs," Gallinari said. "I've got to be ready and play defense. Unfortunately, they hit a big shot out of that."
Andre Miller was whistled for basket interference at the other end, and Bryant found Blake for a 3-pointer from the left corner with 18.9 seconds left for a six-point cushion, L.A.'s biggest of the night.
Sessions, whose acquisition from Cleveland this spring led to the trade of five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher, finished with 12 points, and Blake had 10.
"Those are tough shoes to fill because he had experience," Bryant said of Fisher, who's now with the Oklahoma City Thunder. "But you have to start somewhere. Fish and I started somewhere. ... This was the beginning for them."
Gallinari led the Nuggets with 20 points, and Miller had 15.
After torching the Lakers for 50 points combined in the previous two games, Ty Lawson was held to 11 points and Nuggets big men Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee weren't nearly as effective on offense or disruptive defensively as they were in Game 2, when they combined for 28 points and 30 rebounds.
Together, they had 14 points and 11 rebounds Sunday.
Bynum, who blamed his scoreless first half 48 hours earlier on failing to properly prepare in the pregame, was much more active early on, scoring 11 in the first half, which ended with the Lakers trailing 51-45.