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Sunday afternoon, the Lakers cruised to a 128-114 win over the Nuggets at Staples to take a 1-0 lead in their first round, best of seven series.  Tonight, they’ll try to make it two for two (7:30, TNT).  Here are five things to watch for:

• Linus Kleiza: The Lakers torched little Anthony Carter in the post during Game 1, so Nuggets coach George Karl has decided to insert Kleiza, who was extremely effective offensively on Sunday, into tonight’s starting lineup.   This will give the Nuggets more size and scoring, and a lineup without as many mismatches on the floor.  Losing Carter doesn’t hurt them much.  Yes, they’ll have one less ballhandler to push the pace on the break, and certainly Carter is a lot quicker than Kleiza, but Denver can run no matter who is on the floor.  Kleiza’s presence shouldn’t fundamentally change what the Lakers do offensively, but they’ll have to be mindful of him on the other end.     
• K-Mart on Kobe: Whether Kenyon Martin was responsible for Kobe’s 9-26 Game 1 is open for debate (Kobe did have some good looks that he missed), but no doubt Martin at least frustrated 24, and made it tough for him to penetrate.  Karl has said he’ll keep Martin on Bryant tonight, but even if that limits LA’s MVP candidate for a second straight game, there’s a price to be paid for Denver.  With Martin on the perimeter, they don’t have much down low to prevent the Lakers from controlling the paint, either with penetration from players other than Bryant, or via the entry pass to the post.  Marcus Camby can’t be everywhere at once, and was clearly affected by the imbalance created by Martin’s absence down low.  Look for Denver to try and help each other more by quickly collapsing whenever the ball gets inside.
• Discipline: Should the Nuggets go in that direction, or decide to zone up the Lakers more than they did on Sunday, it’s imperative that the Lakers continue to show the sort of offensive discipline they displayed in Game 1. No matter what Denver threw at them, LA stuck with their inside/out game, and didn’t morph into that jump shot happy squad they’ve become in games past, lulled into the open triple more out of laziness than anything else.  When Denver zones up, LA needs to work the ball until a hole is found, likely in the high post.  From there, they have enough great passers to create easy opportunities.
• Vlad Radmanovic: The Lakers were the beneficiaries of a huge game from Luke Walton on Sunday (16/4/5), a good thing since Raddy was saddled with serious foul trouble.  Tonight, should Denver try to take away LA’s inside game as expected, hot shooting from Radmanovic could quickly scuttle that plan.  Vlad Rad, not exactly known to be the most focused of hoopsters, needs to be present and accounted for from the opening tip.
• Rebounding Stars: Kobe (32 points) and Carmelo Anthony (30 points) both scored plenty in Game 1, but neither was particularly efficient.  They both needed 26 shots to get there, and Melo’s 11-26 actually outdid Kobe’s night by two made field goals.  Even with Martin sticking him, Kobe will likely come back with a stronger effort, but the Lakers need to be prepared for a more explosive Anthony as well.

In the end, no matter what Denver pulls from their bag o’ tricks, the Lakers are the stronger squad, and should win the game.  And they will, 116-108.

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