Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Tuesday evening home contest against Denver, the Lakers looking to build upon Game 1′s 103-88 victory, with some comments drawn from our @LakersReporter Twitter account, and a few more details in case you missed any of the action:

Starters
Lakers: Sessions, Bryant, Ebanks, Gasol and Bynum
Denver: T. Lawson, A. Afflalo, D. Gallinari, K. Faried, K. Koufos

FIRST QUARTER
10:45 Most expected Denver to make some adjustments and come out firing after being blown out easily in Game 1, but the Lakers again asserted their will in the opening minutes, taking a 6-0 lead behind their 7-footers: Bynum scored easily over Koufos (no double team came), and Gasol hit two jumpers, both wide open, the first because Kenneth Faried left Gasol to double Bynum.

8:36 The early dominance continued, as Bynum dunked on consecutive possessions, the first after Gasol led a 2-on-1 break with Denver trying to press a Lakers’ inbounds pass, the Spaniard streaking up the floor before tossing an oop for his fellow 7-footer. Denver’s time out came as they trailed 12-3. However, out of that break, Denver finally found its fast-break game, rolling off an 8-0 run almost all in transition, led by Lawson and Afflalo.

0:05.1 With Denver choosing not to double Kobe until he got into the paint, Bryant went off from the rest of the floor, nailing 6 of 8 shots for 14 points, including a three-pointer with five seconds left to put L.A. up 32-25. The Nuggets scored more effectively than in Game 1, thanks in part to two Al Harrington triples, but the Lakers were scoring with ease, Bynum adding 10 points to Kobe’s effort, the team shooting 61 percent.

SECOND QUARTER
8:30 The Lakers know exactly what Denver wants to do, and it’s not complicated: sprint out on every make or miss. Yet like for a period of the first quarter, missed Lakers shots led again to run outs and layups, a 6-0 Nuggs run tying the game at 36. Mike Brown took a time out to discuss as Kobe checked back in.

6:00 Bryant immediately rolled off five more points, reaching 19 already, figuring that if the Nuggets wanted to raise the intensity level, he was more than happy responding in kind. Jordan Hill then hit two free throws, and Bryant pulled up again for another jumper. On fire.

0:00 The stats told a decent story in the first: L.A. shot 53.3% to DEN’s 38.5%, with both making six free throws, suggested a big Lakers lead. But Denver grabbed 13 offensive rebounds (LAL allowed only 11.48 O boards per game in the regular season), leading to 18 second chance points. They also had 15 fast break points to LAL’s six, which allowed them to trail by just seven despite the discrepancy in shooting percentages.

THIRD QUARTER
8:20 As L.A. started cleaning the defensive glass, some O boards started to come at the other end, with an Ebanks window clean and pretty extra pass from Gasol getting Bynum a layup, then Bryant’s own O board resulting in his pretty and-1 jumper after getting Afflalo in the air. Bynum was the next to climb on the offensive glass, and his put-back made it 69-52, capping a 12-0 run that became 14-0 with an Ebanks jumper. Bynum had 20, and Kobe 27 already.

4:46 It was the Lakers calling time out moments later, however, as Ty Lawson went on a personal 7-0 scoring run, getting repeatedly to the basket for three field goals plus a free throw, cutting the lead back to 12 at 71-59. Still a long ways to go here for L.A. to let up.

0:23.0 Despite the Nuggets hitting a ridiculous 11 of 12 shots, many of them around the rim, L.A. held onto a 7-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, as Bynum (career playoff high 24 points) and Bryant (33 points, of course nowhere near a playoff career high) kept scoring. Teams both scored 26 points in the period, but L.A.’s coaches couldn’t be too thrilled with how many easy buckets were being conceded at the rim.

FOURTH QUARTER
7:50 Sessions, displeased with a call on Corey Brewer’s missed dunk (he appeared not to touch Brewer) responded with consecutive field goals to push L.A.’s lead back to 14, when Denver had cut it to five with a hoop to start the final quarter. Bryant was on the bench for all but the second Sessions hoop (which was his first assist, incidentally), clapping as the bench (Sessions, Blake, Barnes, Hill and Gasol) rebuilt the lead.

6:00 L.A.’s lead at the six-minute mark, when most NBA teams want to be within 10 points for a final chance at a comeback, was nine at 92-83. The starters were in to try and close Denver out, a 2-0 series lead on the line, heading into Friday’s Game 3. Gallinari, who’d been far outplayed by his sub at SF, Brewer, missed a wide-open transition three that could have cut it to four, but Lawson’s transition pull-up after Kobe’s baseline miss made it 92-87 at the 4:35 mark, capping an 8-0 run.

3:00 Ebanks committed a charge as the Nuggets were on a 14-4 run, again cutting the lead to four after L.A. had pushed it to eight on Bryant’s three-pointer. L.A.’s offense stagnated as Kobe isolated on three straight trips, the two misses leading to Faried free throws (4-of-4) that again cut the lead to four, but Bryant stripped Faried on the next trip down, pushed the ball to the rim himself and fed Bynum for an and-1 dunk that made it 98-91 with 2:15 to play.

0:20.9 Sessions stepped up in crunch time first with a floater to keep the lead at six with 1:14 left, and then again by hitting both free throws at the 20.9 mark, countering a McGee tip in, to make it 102-96. Lawson got to the rim for a layup, but Bryant’s two free throws answered, giving him 38 points. Denver would get a final tip in, the winning score thus 104-100. Game 3 is on Friday in Colorado – see you there.

We broke down some of the more intriguing numbers from LAL’s 104-100 Game 2 victory over Denver to push the series lead to 2-0:

4
Key moments down the stretch for Ramon Sessions in his first playoff series. He hit back-to-back buckets at the 8:18 and 7:47 marks of the fourth quarter to cut off a Denver run, knocked down a key floater with 1:14 left to keep L.A. up by six and then hit both of his free throws with 20.9 seconds left to make it 102-96.

5
Assists for Pau Gasol to lead the Lakers, a game after his eight did the same. George Karl went on and on about Gasol’s passing and how much it hurt his team after the game, discussing how much pressure it puts on a defense to have a very smart, 7-0 foot player making so many good decisions. "I’m trying to find open teammates, see what’s going on and give easy looks to Andrew most of the time, and Kobe because he’s such a good cutter and holds his (space) in the paint,” said Gasol afterwards. Bryant called Gasol a "fantastic” passer, and said he simply uses his strength to hold space in the paint until the ball is delivered.

10
Rebounds off the bench for Jordan Hill, who has clearly earned the role of the No. 3 big man for the Lakers. He played 21 minutes, adding a block and six points, but his activity on the glass was key.

11
Turnovers for the Lakers, a number they can be happy with.

13
Offensive rebounds for the Lakers in the second half alone, which actually matched Denver’s haul on that end of the floor in the first half*, keeping the Nuggets close despite a big discrepancy in shooting percentages. Jordan Hill led the charge, with five total offensive boards, while Devin Ebanks used his long arms to grab four, and Andrew Bynum/Gasol three apiece. Kenneth Faried led the Nuggets with six, four in the first half, to help him score 14 points, second only to Ty Lawson’s 25.
*Those 13 were a full board more than LAL allowed on average for the regular season.

27
Andrew Bynum’s point total a game after his triple-double effort (10 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks), the 7-footer finding more opportunities to score than in Game 1. His efficiency was quite strong, 12 of 20 field goals and 3 of 4 free throws going down. He added nine boards and two blocks, his defense solid if not as impactful as in Game 1.

30
Fast break points for the Nuggets, certainly too many for LAL’s liking, but Mike Brown seemed to understand that Denver was playing desperate basketball and was sprinting out at every single opportunity.

83
Number of 30+ point scoring games for Kobe Bryant in his career, after his 38 in Game 2 backed up his 31 in Game 1. He was very aggressive from the onset, with Denver not bringing many double teams, scoring 21 points in the first half on 9 of 12 field goals. He ended up making 15 of 29 in the game, plus 6 of 7 free throws. He did a lot of scoring on Arron Afflalo, and some on Corey Brewer, about whom he said this: "Look man, I’m just stronger. I’m just bigger. It is what it is.” Fair enough.