Denver 113, LA Lakers 96: The Nuggets scored the game’s first 13 points, Ty Lawson pumped in 32 points and a vomiting Kobe ripped his teammates. Game seven is Saturday night. LA fans will spend the bulk of today beating up on Pau Gasol for another listless (1-of-10) performance, and wondering if maybe the Nuggets can steal this series. (Actually, Bill Plaschke will continue to hammer Andrew Bynum.) Kobe will be fine, I’m sure, but unless Bynum and Gasol show up – and that’s not a given the way McGee, Faried and Mozgov have been playing in the last four games – I’d hardly call the Lakers winning it a lock. David Stern might, though.

Boston 83, Atlanta 80: After being called the “dirtiest guy in the league” by one of the Hawks owners, Kevin Garnett went out and scored 28 points and collected 14 rebounds in the victory. The Hawks were eliminated from the playoffs. Boston hosts Philly Saturday at 8 pm in game one of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Philadelphia 79, Chicago 78: Do the 76ers have any shot against Boston? This columnist doesn’t think so (and it was written before game six!). Philly was 2-1 against Boston this season (in the 66-game campaign, read into that what you will). If you look at the matchups, the biggest question is whether you put Iguodala on Pierce or Rondo. I’d vote Rondo and perhaps try Evan Turner on Pierce. A disappointing end to the season for the Bulls, but with injuries to Rose and Noah, they had no chance anyway. CJ Watson and Carlos Boozer shot a combined 3-for-22 in the loss.