LOS ANGELES - Carmelo Anthony is finding that the bigger star you are, the harder you're played.

The Nuggets star forward scored 31 points in his team's Game 5 loss, the third time he's gone over 30 points in this series - but he did it on 9-of-23 shooting. The stomach virus was no longer an issue. His ankle is sore but isn't an overriding factor in his performance.

However, the Lakers are.

"The Lakers ain't going to let me beat them. That's just the way it is," Anthony said. "Every time I get it, I'm seeing two, three, four people at a time. So I take it as a sign of respect. If they were out there and backing off me and not even worrying about me, then I take it as disrespect."

According to his analysis, the Lakers must have the utmost respect for his play because they have clamped down on Anthony and chopped into his effectiveness. In the last three games, including Wednesday night, Anthony is 16-of-52 (30.7 percent) from the field.

But there is no drop in his confidence. He still says the Nuggets have a good shot at the series.

"If we're not confident and we don't think we can win both games, we shouldn't even go out and suit up Friday," he said. "It would be a waste of time."

Tough night. After scoring 24 points in Game 4, J.R. Smith was wretched in Game 5, scoring just seven points, his average in the first three games. It's been a tough series for Smith, Monday notwithstanding, playing on this big stage and with an injured calf. In Game 5, he was just 3-for-13 from the field and, gulp, 1-for-10 from 3-point range.

Smith did tally four assists, two steals and played some pretty good one-on-one defense against Kobe Bryant.

But offensively in the fourth quarter, Smith struggled to find any sort of rhythm, missing all three 3-point attempts.

Problematic acquisition. This week, Bryant recounted his reaction when the Nuggets acquired Chauncey Billups. In fact, his reaction was just one word - and a word you won't see printed in The Denver Post.

"When it went down, I called Carmelo (Anthony) and said, 'You're going to like this trade,"' Bryant recalled. "(Allen) Iverson is great, but this team needed a quarterback, and they got a quarterback. I knew it was going to be a problem as soon as it happened."

Big broadcast. Game 4 on ESPN was the most-viewed NBA game in the history of cable television. It earned a 6.9 rating, representing an average of 6,746,000 households and 9,883,000 viewers. The telecast was the most-viewed program this year on cable and also became ESPN's most-viewed Basketball game ever (college or pro).

Chris Dempsey and Benjamin

Hochman, The Denver Post ------------ Melo vs. Kobe

Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony rallied to score a game-

high 31 points Wednesday in Game 5, outdueling Lakers star Kobe Bryant. But the Lakers took a 3-2 series lead:

........FG....3PT....FT....Reb....

Anthony....Min....M-A....M-A....M-A....O-T....Ast....TO....Pts....

Game 1....40:23....14-20....4-5....7-8....2-6....4....3....39....

Game 2....42:01....12-29....0-6....10-14....5-9....4....4....34....

Game 3....37:29....4-13....1-7....12-14....0-5....3....4....21....

Game 4....34:57....3-16....0-3....9-11....2-3....5....1....15....

Game 5....40:14....9-23....1-4....12-13....0-4....4....5....31....

Bryant

Game 1....43:21....13-28....2-3....12-13....3-6....4....1....40....

Game 2....39:42....10-20....2-4....10-10....2-5....3....2....32....

Game 3....41:13....12-24....2-5....15-17....1-6....5....1....41....

Game 4....41:12....10-26....2-10....12-13....1-7....5....1....34....

Game 5....44:54....6-13....1-6....9-10....1-5....8....7....22....