Andrew Bynum chose to let his mouth do the talking after the Lakers had taken a 3-1 series lead over the Denver Nuggets.
“Closeout games are actually kind of easy,” Bynum had said a day earlier. “Teams tend to fold if you come out and play hard in the beginning.”
However, Bynum quickly found out that closeout games aren’t so ‘easy’ after all as the Denver Nuggets edged out the Lakers Tuesday night in a 102-99 game 5 victory.
“A lot of players are arrogant, man,” Nuggets guard Ty Lawson said. “That was an arrogant statement. That definitely did give us fuel and motivation to win this game. We don’t like people saying stuff about us. We all looked at each and other and were like, ‘All right, let’s go.’ ”
Following Tuesday night’s loss, Bynum said he had no regret regarding his comments the day before.
“We didn’t get off to a good start and we lost, so I guess the same holds true,” he said.
Coach George Karl of the Nuggets made sure the team was well aware of the comments made by the Lakers 7 ft All-Star center by including it in the pre-game footage for the team to review .
“It’s the hardest thing in the world to win that fourth game. I don’t know care who you are playing.” said Karl.
“We try not to put what people say into our head or into our heart,” Nuggets rookie forward Kenneth Faried said. “But we just looked at it, Coach told us about it and we came out and tried to prove them wrong.”
Veteran Kobe Bryant had a clear message for his team as they attempt to officially close out the series Thursday night, saying, “It was a lesson to learn. You never want to give someone bulletin-board material to begin with. But if you’re going to be a champion, you’re going to have to play through that type of stuff.”
Do you think Andrew Bynum’s comments gave the Denver Nuggets the fuel to win going into Tuesday night’s game?
