The Lakers know their next opponent, assuming they have a next opponent.
The 92-88 victory in the Lakers' Game 4 in Denver on Sunday night moved them one step away from the second round, where the Oklahoma City Thunder await.
Oklahoma City eliminated the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks 4-0 to earn the right to face the Denver-Lakers winner in the second round. If the Lakers advance, they'll run into Derek Fisher, who was traded in March to make lineup room and payroll savings as Ramon Sessions came in to play point guard.
Fisher was traded with a first-round pick to Houston for power forward Jordan Hill, who has moved ahead of Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy to be a key backup for the Lakers.
Hill pitched in big-time again Sunday night with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in 23 minutes of action. It was his second playoff double-double, and he has only played four playoff games now.
Hill and the Lakers will try to earn their ticket to Oklahoma City by winning Game 5 against Denver on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
NOTES, QUOTES
Bynum moves up in Most Improved results
--Andrew Bynum said he wasn't even aware of the balloting results for NBA Most Improved Player, but he moved up from a tie with Greg Monroe for fourth place when the NBA changed one first-place vote given to Andrew Bogut to Bynum. Bynum will also be in the running for All-NBA honors, although he faces a challenge to unseat Dwight Howard for first-team honors.
--Lakers fans got a brief glimpse Sunday night of a mask much like the one Kobe Bryant wore for part of this season because of his broken nose. Denver's Al Harrington wore his mask for a few minutes, missed two shots and discarded it. He put it back on later. His nose was broken by an Andrew Bynum elbow Friday night.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Energy, running the floor and definitely rebounding." -- Lakers forward Jordan Hill on his role.
ROSTER REPORT
PLAYER NOTES:
--G Steve Blake sank a key 3-point shot with 19 seconds left Sunday night in the Lakers' victory in Denver, but even rarer was him blocking Danilo Gallinari's layup down the stretch. Blake laughingly said it was his first or second of the season, and in fact it was his third.
--F Metta World Peace will be appearing on Conan O'Brien's TBS talk show "Conan" on Monday night. World Peace is serving a seven-game NBA suspension and intends to do some comedy now that time has passed since he elbowed James Harden in the head.
--F Pau Gasol dropped Denver's Danilo Gallinari with a strong pick, took a pass from Kobe Bryant and then moved the ball to the open Ramon Sessions for a 3-pointer that was the tie-breaking play in the Lakers' Game 4 victory. Gasol said making the winning pass was as satisfying to him as making the winning shot.
