Turns out the Lakers aren't old men

So the Lakers DO have the energy of someone younger than 60 years old.

For most of these playoffs, we have watched the Lakers sleepwalk through games like a team that has already won three or four championships. Luke Walton had me thinking he was actually a spy from the other team, and I wasn't sure Lamar Odom was even alive anymore.

Then, the Denver Nuggets smacked LA clean in the mouth during a 120-101 loss in Game 4. They had to stomach watching J.R. Smith tap-dancing, mean-mugging, and generally being a stereotype as they went down in flames in Denver. Not only that, they let a guy who actually answers to "Birdman" shut them down.

Maybe that was enough to finally wake the Lakers up. Lord knows I was tired of seeing them play like they'd automatically be in the Finals just because it's been prophesied by the Kobe/LeBron commercials. I think for most people, escaping Houston like they did would be enough for a team to realize that it's not gonna be a cakewalk.

And after predicting after every loss that the next game would be the one where LA would get it together, this one might actually be the one where they do.

Sure, they did this against Houston in a Game 5 blowout, but I don't think anyone ever really believed that Houston would win that series. Houston was always three seconds away from Yao Ming hurting himself (which happened) or Ron Artest overtaking Vernon Maxwell as the "Craziest Man in Houston." This Rockets team wasn't exactly "Clutch City," and the Lakers knew it.

But the Nuggets are different, because they're every bit as talented as the Lakers are. They're big, athletic, physical, and they've made the Lakers work for every point. The Lakers, at no point, have ever been in control of this series, and it never seemed to bother them. They were just fine watching Kobe scowl and heave contested jumpers. They didn't mind that Lamar Odom was stealing money from the team like his name was Rashard Lewis. Not until J.R. Smith started raining threes and doing his big boy swagger right in Phil's face. Now, the Lakers are diving all over the floor and into the stands.

Hey, whatever it took, it worked and it happened at the right time. If LA had lost this game, Nike and Vitaminwater might as well have stopped showing their commercials, because they weren't coming back. They were squeaking out wins against Denver before. With the confidence of beating the Lakers at home in pivotal Game 5 behind them, there would have been no end to the amount of J.R. Smith that we all would have had to deal with.

Now, they just need to sustain it. Can Lamar Odom show up for two consecutive games or will Kobe have to put the team on his back again?