It seems rather hard to imagine, though there it was: Marcus Camby, the NBA's reigning Defensive Player Of The Year, looking defenseless as Pau Gasol scored seemingly at will in a game the Nuggets said they could win, even though, we all knew they couldn't.

The Nuggets scored 114 points and still lost by 14 points? What?

George Karl said he would address defense to his team on Monday. Sounds good, but considering he said the same thing on a Monday months ago in Durango, this is becoming a rather tired refrain from the head coach.

This is my opinion on the matter.

The Nuggets really do not put an emphasis on defense, they instead just play the passing lanes. In other words, they cheat on defense, they stick their hands out and hope for a steal or maybe a partial deflection. It takes a lot less effort than actually playing defense and on occasion, it can get you the same results as actually playing the part. For the Nuggets, anything that requires less effort, equals more of chance of them trying it.

There is nothing wrong with playing the passing lanes if you are playing an inferior team. That way, you relax or "cheat" a little on defense and conserve your energy on the defensive end, with the full realization you can defeat an overwhelmed opponent with less than maximum effort. Really, I do not have a problem with this idea. After all, in a long and grueling NBA regular season, if you have the chance to grab a little rest and you can win, you should do it.

However, we can all agree that the Lakers are not an inferior team. It is going to more or less going take everything the Nuggets have to win this series. What's that old saying? Oh, yeah, "cheaters" never win.

Game two is Wednesday night at Staples Center.

Have a nice day.

-"z"