Fire on Nuggets' bus early omen for Game 1

The Rocky

Monday, April 21, 2008

Chris Carlson / Associated Press

Linas Kleiza drives against Lamar Odom on his way to a strong 23-point performance off the bench for the Nuggets.

Pau Gasol didn't have the only torching Sunday of the Nuggets.

A bus carrying the Nuggets caught fire en route to Game 1 at the Staples Center. There were no injuries, but a lot of laughs.

At least there were laughs before the game. There weren't many after Gasol scored 36 points in the Lakers' 128-114 win.

"That's the way the Lakers are," forward Linas Kleiza said jokingly before the game. "Sabotage our bus."

A first bus traveling to the game on Interstate 10 caught fire about 10:45 a.m. MDT, 2 hours, 15 minutes before the start of the game. After the bus was evacuated, players, coaches and support staff stood on the side of the highway for about a half-hour before the Nuggets' second bus retrieved them.

"There was a pop and black smoke and another pop and more black smoke," said Nuggets publicist Eric Sebastian, who was onboard and said the driver evacuated the bus after the second pop.

Sebastian, who said the fire was in the engine area in the back, said players on the bus were Kleiza, Marcus Camby, J.R. Smith, Eduardo Najera, Yakhouba Diawara, Bobby Jones and Taurean Green.

The players on the first bus had hoped to arrive about 11 a.m. MDT. Instead, all the players arrived about a half-hour after that.

"It was probably a pressure release," said Nuggets coach George Karl, on the second bus. "Laugh a little bit rather than worry and get nervous. . . . I'm just glad it was in L.A., not in Minnesota, with four inches of snow."

Nene insurance

The Nuggets will pay about $15 million in luxury tax this season, but it's possible they could recoup as much as $1.72 million due to insurance on Nene, whom team media notes list as having missed 61 regular-season games because of injuries and illness.

NBA teams are required to insure contracts of their five highest-salaried players, and Nene, making $8.84 million, falls in that category. After a player misses 41 games because of injury or illness, a team could get back 80 percent of the salary for remaining missed regular-season games.

There are mitigating circumstan- ces, and any claim on Nene, who sat out because of testicular cancer, a torn thumb ligament and a groin strain, would need to be approved for money to be paid. But the full amount the Nuggets could get for 20 missed Nene games beyond 41 would be $1.72 million.

Nene dressed Sunday, and Karl didn't rule him out returning from his groin strain. But he didn't play, and his Game 2 status is uncertain.

Technical difficulty

The most-penalized team and most-penalized player got together Sunday. Not surprisingly, ample technicals were called.

The Nuggets, who led the NBA in technicals, with 54, picked up four. And Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who led the way individually, with 15, had one.

Bryant played the last 10 games without getting a technical. Had he gotten one, he would have been suspended for a game due to reaching 16.

"If I get suspended a game in the playoffs for that, I'll retire," Bryant said of if he were to reach seven in the playoffs, and be penalized. "I'll just quit."

Bryant and Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin got double technicals in the fourth quarter for arguing. But the Nuggets believe Bryant also should have received a technical in the third quarter when Anthony Carter got one after a hard foul on Bryant, and the Nuggets believed Bryant hit Carter in the face.

"(Carter) tried to hold him up and (Bryant) smacked him in the face," said Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, with Bryant denying the charge.

Bench effort

Kleiza and Smith combined in five playoff games last season to score 26 points. They combined for 38 in the game Sunday.

"I definitely felt more comfortable, so I've just got to keep doing that off the bench every night," said Kleiza, who scored 23 points. Fellow reserve Smith had 15.

Iverson called the performance from Kleiza and other role players "very important."

"We're going to need everyone," Iverson said. "We understand how much attention is going to be drawn to myself and Carmelo (Anthony)."

Karls dine

Karl dined Saturday night in Los Angeles with his son, Lakers guard Coby Karl. There was ample trash talking.

"My best line was, 'When I beat you, I have experience in it and I'll help you through it,' " said Karl, who won't see Coby again until at least Tuesday, since the Nuggets returned home between Games 1 and 2.

Told Karl said he had some zingers at the dinner, Coby said, "He thought he did."

Etc.

* Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien declined to comment on an unnamed source telling the New York Post that Warkentien and former Milwaukee general manager Larry Harris have emerged as top candidates to be the Knicks' general manager.

* Karl admitted before the game Sunday he'd prefer facing No. 2 seed New Orleans rather than the No. 1 Lakers in the first round. "I'm not going to deny we were rooting to play New Orleans," he said. "We wanted to play the more inexperienced team." About the Lakers last summer, Karl later said, "I was hoping they would trade Kobe."

* Iverson wasn't happy after shooting just 7-for-13 from the foul line. "I concentrated," he said. "I was focused. They just didn't go down. It's unacceptable."

He said it

"Everyone's picking L.A. to win the series. It's pretty much the same. We're underdogs, and people don't think we have a chance at all. But we're not going to give up that easy."

Iverson, when asked to compare this series to the 2001 NBA Finals, when he and the 76ers lost 4-1 to the Lakers.

* Offense: For the Nuggets, there were too many jump shots in the first quarter, and they never got in a rhythm when the game got away from them in the third. The Lakers showed tremendous balance as star Kobe Bryant struggled with his shot. Team game illustrated by 33 assists.

* Defense: The Nuggets' Kenyon Martin did a tremendous job containing Bryant, particularly in the first half, but got little help from his teammates. Though soft in the second quarter, the Lakers were more active after halftime and held Denver to 44.8 percent shooting.

* Hustle points: Credit the Nuggets for putting up a fight in the fourth quarter after trailing by 19, but they missed a chance to take control of the game in the first half. The Lakers' Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol were monsters on the boards, but killer instinct was lacking in the fourth quarter.

* Bench: The Nuggets' Linas Kleiza showed his range from the three-point line and also attacked the basket, as he and J.R. Smith combined for 38 points. The Lakers' Luke Walton was effective at both ends of the court, and Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar hit some timely shots.

Pau Gasol

With 36 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots, the Lakers center sure didn't look like a guy who had been 0-12 in the playoffs. Gasol was unstoppable running the floor on the fast break and dominating the paint in the half-court offense.