Prior to yesterday’s Game 5, Andrew Bynum said close-out games in the NBA playoffs are “actually kind of easy.” The Denver Nuggets took offense at the insinuation that they would just roll over for the 17-time World Champion and used the Laker center’s words as motivation to shock Los Angeles on their home floor and close the deficit to 3-2 in their first-round series.
Nuggets coach George Karl explained how he pasted Bynum’s words on the team’s bulletin board.
“It just gave me an opportunity to philosophize, which I think you know I like to do,” Karl said after the game. “I think it’s hard to win. I’ve been blessed to win a few series, and it’s hard to win the next game and it’s the hardest thing in the world to win the fourth game. I don’t care who you’re playing, if it’s the eighth seed, it’s hard to win that fourth game.”
