Lakers Sweep Nuggets

Kobe and teammates heading for round two
By Doug Sweeney,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 29, 2008 1:50 AM CDT
Lakers Sweep Nuggets
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, right, looks to pass the ball under pressure from Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin in the first quarter of Game 4 of a first-round NBA playoff series.   (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

No surrender on this night. No matter, the Los Angeles Lakers dispatched the tempestuous Denver Nuggets anyway. Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 31 points over the final 5 1/2 minutes Monday night, leading the Lakers to a 107-101 victory over the Nuggets and a sweep of their first-round series.

Pau Gasol added 21 points in the Lakers' first sweep of a playoff series since whitewashing New Jersey in the 2002 NBA finals, the last time they won it all. The Nuggets became the first 50-win team to ever be swept in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers will meet the winner of the Utah-Houston series, which the Jazz lead 3-1, in the Western Conference semifinals. (More basketball stories.)

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