LOS ANGELES — When all the reasons are broken down and blame is assessed, sometimes the numbers alone tell the story.
Against the Lakers, it’s a Nuggets second-half stale tale.
During the regular season, the bulk of the Nuggets’ issues against the Lakers started in the second half. L.A. outscored Denver 170-133 in the second half of their three regular-season meetings. Sunday, the Lakers outscored Denver 70-58 after halftime en route to their 128-114 victory.
So what gives?
“I wish I knew,” Nuggets center Marcus Camby said. “If I knew, we would have it solved by now.”
It can be either quarter. Sunday, it was a brutal third quarter in which the Nuggets allowed 39 points and were outscored 39-22.
“That third quarter, 39, 40 points for a team, is unacceptable in the regular season,” Camby said, “and it’s definitely unacceptable in the playoffs.”
Said forward Kenyon Martin: “They got momentum and confidence in the third quarter that we weren’t able to bounce back from. So we need to go see the things we did right, see the things we did wrong and try to eliminate the mistakes and get ready for Wednesday.”
Lakers star Kobe Bryant was especially good during the second half, after shooting just 2-for-10 in the first half. He scored 28 of his 32 points after the break.
“Some of the shots they missed in the first half, they made in the third quarter,” Martin said. “We just didn’t do a good enough job on the defensive end, which we need to do. Everybody wants to talk about our defense. That was our demise tonight.”
Every shooting percentage rose in the second half for the Lakers. They were good from the field, blistering hot from the 3-point line and even hit 21-of-24 free throws.
It didn’t help that Martin, who had guarded Bryant well, missed a big chunk of the half because of foul trouble.
“I thought in the third quarter we had three or four turnovers, and a couple of offensive rebounds that just kind of gave them an energy that they didn’t have in the first half,” Nuggets coach George Karl said.
The Lakers credited execution on both ends.
“Offensive execution,” Lakers forward Lamar Odom said. “We have to execute our offense and take good shots, and usually have good defensive balance. We were able to stop them from fast-breaking.”
Added Lakers guard Derek Fisher: “We kept playing. I think at times in the second half we made it difficult for them to score, and that’s how we were able to break it open there in the third quarter.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
