NBA playoff protocol holds that it’s up to the Nuggets, who came out on the short end of their series opener, to make an adjustment before Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers. And coach George Karl is apparently ready to oblige, indicating Monday he’ll likely change his starting lineup.
While the coach wasn’t specific, indications are he’ll have Linas Kleiza replace Anthony Carter for Game 2 on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
“We’d talked about some lineup changes before last night; we tried to go with the guys who got us to advance, but there’s a good chance there’ll be a change,” Karl said Monday after the team’s workout.
Kleiza performed well Sunday in the Nuggets’ 128-114 loss at the Staples Center, scoring 23 points, many of them on aggressive drives to the basket. While that offensive production was welcome, Karl seemed more concerned with taking measures to stop a Lakers attack that scored 29 of its 46 field goals in the paint.
“I think it’s a matchup thing,” Karl said. “I just don’t think I want to give (Lakers coach) Phil (Jackson) as many postups and mismatch situations as he has in the lineup at the beginning of the game. I think I can make one or two changes and get that taken care of pretty quickly.”
In their understandable haste to find a way to prevent NBA most valuable player candidate Kobe Bryant from blowing up, the Nuggets gave power forward Kenyon Martin the task of defending him. While that ploy was largely successful — Bryant shot just 9-of-26 from the field — it left the Nuggets vulnerable on the inside.
Whenever a Laker penetrated to the basket, that left center Marcus Camby to try to pick up the man with the basketball. That, in turn, left a bigger Laker open for easy baskets. More often than not, that man was Pau Gasol, a 7-footer who scored 36 points, mostly on easy layins.
“I don’t think he took more than two shots from outside the lane,” Martin said.
Starting the 6-8, 245-pound Kleiza over Carter, who isn’t as tall as his listed 6-2, could have a dual benefit for the Nuggets.
On one hand, his size could prove a hindrance to the offensive forays of Lakers forward Lamar Odom, who had 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists Sunday. Second, with Martin likely on the perimeter with Bryant, when Denver is forced to switch on defense it couldn’t hurt to have a bigger body inside to help Camby. The Lakers had 13 offensive rebounds Sunday.
“We’ll always be a team that can score points, but now it’s about defending in the paint,” Camby said. “Giving up 130 points in a playoff game is unacceptable; you can say that defense was a big priority (Monday in practice).”
It’s hard to simulate intensity on a practice court, however. If there was one thing that frustrated Karl more than the sight of Gasol and Odom repeatedly dunking the basketball, it was his team’s passiveness.
“I don’t think we matched their playoff intensity,” Karl said. “I’m disappointed at the level of not matching the competition. I think, in general, we froze up in a big game, the first game of a series. I don’t think we performed at a level we’re capable of performing at.”
Hence the likely switch, and with it the hope that the next move in the series will be incumbent upon the Lakers.
“We just need to go out and play the hardest, toughest, most intense game we’ve played all year,” Karl said. “And I think we’ll have some answers come our way.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
