The Los Angeles Lakers have a chance to advance to the Western Conference Semi-Finals tonight at Staples Center, but as most teams know, closing out is difficult. The Lakers lead the Denver Nuggets 3-1 in their series and need one more win to advance on.
Although a close-out game is made much easier when a team in on its home court, it is common courtesy to respect the opponent. The squad trailing will play with all its might and it must be taken seriously.
However, Lakers’ center Andrew Bynum said that closing out games is fairly easy and that the Lakers should take care of business tonight, according to ESPN Los Angeles.
“Close-out games are actually kind of easy,” Bynum said. “Teams tend to fold if you come out and play hard in the beginning, so we want to come out and establish an early lead and protect it.”
The Lakers are clearly the better team in this series, but the Nuggets have proved that they can win a game. Bynum has spoken and it is now time to back-up his words.