LOS ANGELES — On the bright side for the Los Angeles Lakers, at least they stole Game 1, or they’d really in in trouble now.

As it is, they’ve looked better, now tied in the West Finals, 1-1, after blowing almost all of a 13-point first-half lead over the Denver Nuggets — in a span of 160 seconds — and falling, 106-103, Thursday night.
Games 3 and 4 are in Denver, which is now in the throes of Nuggetmania, so welcome to Rocky Mountain High Hell, Lakers.
It was just the latest in a series of puzzling Laker performances.
First, the Nuggets looked like they were mailing this one in, after two quick touch fouls were called against Dahntay Jones, trying to play Kobe Bryant.
As if to tell the officials how much he was enjoying their work, Denver Coach George Karl left Jones on the floor to absorb his third and fourth fouls before the game was six minutes old, as the air seemed to go out of the Nuggets.
The Lakers led by as many as 13 points, with 2:40 left in the half, before the Nuggets decided they were here, they might as well play.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they didn’t seem to notice, as the Nuggets got serious, closing the half with a 14-2 run, the last two points on an in-bounds play with Chauncey Billups throwing the ball off Kobe Bryant’s back, picking it up and laying it in.
“I just knew we had gained some momentum,” said Billups, who scored 27 points to go along with Carmelo Anthony’s 34.
“They had us in a bad place that first half. Melo and I kept saying, `Let’s keep fighting! Keep fighting!’
”We kept giving up layups, too many layups, probably about 40 points in the paint in the first half, and you can’t win any game like that.
“And once we decided to play the way we were supposed to do, we kind of turned the tide a little bit, and it was a playoff game from that point on, back and forth.”
Wince if this sounds familiar, Laker fans.
As usual, the Lakers said it wasn’t anything out of the unusual.
“Well, it’s frustrating, but this is what they do,” Bryant said. “Denver’s an explosive team, but they can make up points very, very quickly, and they can go on runs very, very quickly.”
It’s true, leads come and leads go, especially when it’s the Lakers who hold them. Giving up leads is what they do.
That inside game the Lakers were looking for?
They’re still looking for it. At this point, it seems to have gone the way of the wooly mammoth.
This time Pau Gasol (17 points) and Andrew Bynum (nine) outscored Nene and Kenyon Martin, but it was only by 26-22.
For the first two games, the smaller Nugget tandem is still up 55-48.
In other words, the Lakers’ two seven-footers are only getting a push with the 6-foot-10 Nene and the 6-9 Martin.
Once again, Bynum barely played in the second half. He got all nine of his points, and 14 of his 18 minutes in the first half, suggesting Coach Phil Jackson doesn’t have much confidence they’ll get to their inside game.
So much for dominating. Now to see if the Lakers can squeak by.
“After watching the (Cleveland Cavaliers-Orlando Magic) game ... I think the four best teams are playing,” Karl said. “And everybody has a favorite, but I’ll be honest with you, I think we’re all pretty close. And I think the next two weeks is going to eliminate two, and after that someone’s going to win a championship.
”And I’ll give L.A. its due, they were the team that was there (in last spring’s Finals). I’ll give Cleveland its due because they won 60, whatever, a million games this summer. But I think Orlando and Denver are still going to fight awful hard.“
That’s the Lakers’ problem now. At this point, they’re just one of four, heading into hostile territory.