Former Laker Mychal Thompson analyzes Game 2 against Denver [Video]

Former Laker and current NBA radio analyst Mychal Thompson will do a video interview with Times reporter Melissa Rohlin after each Laker home game during the playoffs.

Here are some highlights from the video above following the Lakers’ 104-100 win over Denver in their first-round Western Conference series, which the Lakers now lead 2-0.

On whether the Denver Nuggets still have a chance in this series:

“Yeah...It’s going to be tough to go back there and win two games. Denver lost the game tonight but I felt like they had something that they can take into Denver, some belief in their system, because they played well tonight and they got a lot of fast break points. They got their running game going. And in Denver, anybody who’s been to Denver knows about the altitude. You get up there and it really makes it difficult for visiting teams because Denver’s players are acclimated to the altitude and they’re going to try and run a lot.”

The Nuggets had 30 fast break points, the Lakers had only 15. On how the Lakers can better control the tempo:

“You limit your turnovers, which the Lakers did a good job of tonight; they only had 11 turnovers. So when they get to Denver, you know, you’re not as familiar with the arena and the place is obviously going to be a lot more electric for Denver so you have to keep your composure, keep your poise and not make silly passes.”

Kobe Bryant had his 38th playoff performance in which he scored 30 or more points. On Bryant’s 38-point performance:

“Kobe was held to 17 points a game during the season by the Nuggets, the lowest scoring output against an opponent all year. Great players like Kobe, they know that kind of stat. He knows that they did a good job on him defensively in the regular season so he was determined to come here in the playoffs to prove that they cannot stop him.”

On Andrew Bynum‘s 27 points and nine rebounds:

In Game 1 he didn’t have much room to operate because they were double- and triple-teaming him as soon as he caught the ball. But tonight they gave him a little bit more room to operate inside and you saw the results of it.”

On the streakiness of the game:

“You got to control Ty Lawson. He’s the guy who brought Denver back. He started getting some open areas to operate, some drives to the basket, you got to take away those spaces for Ty Lawson.”

In Game 1, Ty Lawson had seven points. In Game 2, he had 25 points. On the difference between the two games:

“He got in the open court. He decided to also to be more offensive-minded because the rest of his team was kind of struggling.”

On the keys for Game 3:

“You got to outrebound the Nuggets.”

“If you can hold them to 20 fast break points in Denver, you’re doing the job.”

MORE:

Mychal Thompson discusses Game 1 [Video]

One-on-one with Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum [Video]