On Saturday night during the early rounds of the Calzaghe/Hopkins light heavyweight title fight one of the announcers had a very astute observation about what had being going on in the fight through the first few rounds. The announcer said that Hopkins seemed to have a great plan that he was sticking to, while Calzaghe had no plan at all, and preferred an improvisational, on-the-fly style that didn’t seem to be working up to that point. Change the name Hopkins to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the name Calzaghe to the Denver Nuggets, and that exact observation held true through game one of the Lakers’ 128-114 victory Sunday afternoon.

The Lakers’ plan on offense seemed to revolve around Pau Gasol. First he would touch the ball in the high post early in the offense. Then he would go down in the post again to touch it with the intent of passing first, and scoring second. When he decided to score, all of his shots were within 10 feet. When he decided to pass, Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmer and Lamar Odom were able to make hit their shots and make the Nuggets pay. And when Gasol would pass, and his teammates would miss, he was right there for the rebound and then the score. Gasol parlayed that formula to a 36 point, 18 rebound and 8 assist night at the office.

The Nuggets on the other hand seemed to be completely clueless. During a 15-4 run early in the second quarter, their best lineup had Allen Iverson at the point, J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza at the 2 and the 3 respectively, Eduardo Najera at the 4, and Marcus Camby playing center. That lineup ran the fast break to perfection, they drove strong to the basketball instead of settling for jumpers and they came up with numerous steals and fast break opportunities. At that point it appeared as if the Nuggets had finally found an effective formula to combat Gasol and the Lakers. The Nuggets went from being down 26-16 to leading 41-33, and it seemed like a blueprint for their success had finally been found.

But at no other point during the game did Nuggets head coach George Karl revisit that lineup. After that impressive run by the Nuggets, Karl benched the red hot Kleiza, and brought in the jumper happy Carmelo Anthony. Then Smith was benched in favor of the offensively challenged Anthony Carter, and not only was the lead lost, but the cohesiveness was as well. Not once during the game did George Karl try that lineup again, and not coincidentally, not once did the Nuggets have the lead again.

On the defensive end of the floor, the normally defensively challenged Nuggets seemed to have a plan, which was to put Kenyon Martin on Kobe. And despite Kobe’s game ending total of 32 points, Martin was semi-effective at making Bryant work for each of those points, by forcing him into a 9-for-26 shooting night. But again, there was no plan in place for the Nuggets to combat option B and C for the Lakers. Gasol and Odom benefited from Martin’s absence in the post, and they were able to get every rebound. On top of that, Carter was frequently forced to guard bigger men, which left the Nuggets open to second chance points, and allowed the Lakers to open up an insurmountable lead.

The stretch that epitomized the chaos and lack of organization demonstrated by the Nuggets occurred with about two minutes left in the game. First Martin received a technical foul for his continual jawing with Kobe Bryant. Then Smith foolishly fell for a Bryant head fake on the perimeter, and was disqualified after his sixth foul. Next, Iverson, feeling that he had been hit on a drive to the basket, argued his way into a double technical, and he was thrown out of the game. After that Anthony decided to repeatedly ignore the red hot Kleiza who was open in the corner, and attempted to take on five defenders at once. As a result, he turned the ball over during the Nuggets last few possessions, all with a smile on his face, since he too was jawing with Kobe. After each of these mistakes, the Lakers capitalized and scored to put the game out of reach.

It would seem to appear that given their sloppy play, that Karl and the Nuggets have virtually no shot at the winning the series let alone the second. But there is a plan that can be devised and followed, that would lead to victory in the next game.

On the offensive end, the Nuggets — mainly Carmelo Anthony — should spend less time taking 15-20 foot jumpers, and more time driving to the basket. This would put much increased pressure on the Lakers’ perimeter defenders, and it would force Odom and Gasol to be the last line of defense, which could lead to foul trouble for the both of them. The Nuggets also need to make sure that Kleiza and Smith see more time on the floor since their play led to the best offensive stretch during this game one.

Defensively, the Nuggets should put Martin back in the low post on defense, so he and Camby can wreak havoc on Gasol and Odom. The cold reality is that Kobe was off on Sunday, and he still scored 32 points. Chances are slim to none that he will be that off in any other game this series. However, if Martin and Camby are defending in the post together, they can make points in the paint much more difficult to come by. And much like LeBron James and the Cavaliers, if Bryant is scoring big, and the rest of the Lakers are mediocre, the Lakers become an average, vulnerable team.

In the aforementioned light heavyweight title fight, Calzaghe was victorious because he stopped freewheeling, and decided to utilize a plan that worked, all while confusing Hopkins. The Nuggets will need to do to the same, as they enter their fight in game 2.