Schedule and 2011-12 Results
Regular Season Records: Los Angeles Lakers 41-25, Denver 38-28
Game 1 on Sunday, 29 April: Denver loses at Los Angeles Lakers, 103-pts-88
Game 2 on Tuesday, 01 May: Denver loses at Los Angeles Lakers, 104-pts-100
Game 3 on Friday, 04 May: Los Angeles Lakers lose at Denver, 99-pts-84
Game 4 on Sunday, 06 May: Los Angeles Lakers win at Denver, 92-pts-88
Game 5 on Tuesday, 08 May: Denver wins at Los Angeles Lakers, 102-pts-99
Game 6 on Thursday, 10 May: Los Angeles Lakers lose at Denver, 113-pts-96
Game 7 on Saturday, 12 May: Denver loses at Los Angeles Lakers, 96-pts-87

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 7: The Los Angeles Lakers hosted and defeated the Denver Nuggets 96-pts-87, thus achieving a 4-games-3 victory in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1176. With the series 1176 win, the Los Angeles Lakers improve their best-of-7 NBA playoff series record to 68-29 overall and 7-2 (with an active five-series winning streak) in the NBA Preliminary round. With the series 1176 loss, the Denver Nuggets see their best-of-7 NBA playoff series record fall to 4-16 overall (with an active four-series losing streak) and 1-8 in the NBA Preliminary round. The win order for the victorious L.A. Lakers in series 1176 was WWLWLLW: Series 1176 thus becomes the first NBA Preliminary-round series, the sixth NBA series (all rounds), and the 12th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow this win order to completion. The first team ever to achieve this WWLWLLW win order in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series competition? The Los Angeles Lakers, in series 177 (over the St. Louis Hawks in the 1966 NBA Semifinals). With the series 1176 win, the Los Angeles Lakers advance to meet the series-1175 winning Oklahoma City Thunder in series 1181, in the 2012 NBA Quarterfinals.

After Game 6: Forcing MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1176 to a decisive Game 7, the Denver Nuggets hosted and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 113-pts-96 to knot series 1176 at 3-games-all. In best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the Game 7 record of the Denver Nuggets is 1-1, while that of the Los Angeles Lakers is 13-7. All else equal (irrespective of Games 1-6 win order and site order) in best-of-7 NBA playoff series history from 1947-2011, inclusive, home teams in the NBA have a Game 7 record of 86-21 (.804).

After Game 5: With MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1176 back in southern California, the Denver Nuggets staved off elimination with a 102-pts-99 victory over the host Los Angeles Lakers, thus reducing the Lakers’ series lead to 3-games-2. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-2, the Los Angeles Lakers have a 30-4 series record (with an active six-series winning streak) and a 21-13 Game 6 record (with an active four-Game 6 winning streak). When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-2, the Denver Nuggets have a 0-7 series record and a 1-6 Game 6 record. The sole Denver Game 6 win in this situation occurred in series 669, in which the Nuggets hosted and defeated the Utah Jazz to knot their 1994 NBA Quarterfinals series at 3-games-all – Utah, having once led that series 3-games-nil, won Game 7 to win series 669.

After Game 4: The Los Angeles Lakers visited and defeated the Denver Nuggets 92-pts-88 to take a 3-games-1 lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1176. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-1, the Los Angeles Lakers have a 30-1 series record and a 20-11 Game 5 record. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-1, the Denver Nuggets have a 0-11 series record and a 4-7 Game 5 record. The sole Lakers series loss upon having led a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-1 occurred in series 977, when they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the 2006 NBA Preliminary round.

After Game 3: With MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1176 at a higher altitude for Games 3-4, the Denver Nuggets hosted and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 99-pts-84 to cut the Lakers’ series 1176 lead to 2-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the Los Angeles Lakers have a 41-5 series record (with an active ten-series winning streak) and a 24-22 Game 4 record (with an active four-Game 4 losing streak). When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the Denver Nuggets have a 0-10 series record and a 2-8 Game 4 record.

After Game 2: The Los Angeles Lakers hosted and defeated the Denver Nuggets 104-pts-100 to take a 2-games-nil lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1176. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 41-1 (with an active 34-series winning streak; the sole series loss occurred in series 215, to the Boston Celtics in the 1969 NBA Finals) and a Game 3 record of 20-22. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil, the Denver Nuggets have a series record of 0-7 and a Game 3 record of 3-4.

After Game 1: The Los Angeles Lakers hosted and bested the Denver Nuggets 103-pts-88 to take a 1-game-nil lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1176. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 56-7 (with an active 21-series winning streak, which began after a series 597 loss to the Chicago Bulls in the 1991 NBA Finals) and a Game 2 record of 42-21. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the Denver Nuggets have a series record of 0-10 and a Game 2 record of 3-7. In the history of best-of-7 NBA playoff series from 1947 through 2011, inclusive, teams such as the Lakers which win Game 1 at home by 15 points have a series record of 9-0; the Lakers themselves are thrice among those nine winners.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2011-12 NBA regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers finished three games ahead of the Denver Nuggets. From 1947 through the 2011 NBA Finals round, inclusive, when NBA teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by three regular-season games, they have posted a 14-14 (.500) best-of-7 series record in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1176 is the 20th best-of-7 NBA playoff series for Denver, and the 97th for the Los Angeles Lakers. In best-of-7 NBA playoff series, Denver has a 4-15 series record, a 1-7 Preliminary-round series record, and a 9-10 Game 1 record, while the Los Angeles Lakers have a 67-29 series record, a 6-2 Preliminary-round record with an active four-series winning streak, and a 63-33 Game 1 record. Series 1176 is the fourth best-of-7 NBA playoff series meeting between Denver and the Los Angeles Lakers: Los Angeles won series 454 (1985 NBA Semifinals), 1042 (2008 NBA Preliminary round), and 1084 (2009 NBA Semifinals) to lead 3-0.