Down the dimly lit tunnel in the Staples Center where the Lakers won Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, 105-103, Carter finally paused and opened up to one reporter, speaking softly.

"That's not what lost the game," he said of his inbound pass that Trevor Ariza swiped with 30.5 seconds left and the Lakers leading by two points. "We still had time on the clock. We just didn't come up with a few plays."

Then, asked if the series was just getting started, he flashed a smile.

"Yeah," Carter said. "We've got a long ways to go."

Indeed, the No. 1-seeded Lakers and No. 2-seeded Nuggets battled toe-to-toe, with the team's two biggest stars, L.A.'s Kobe Bryant (40 points), and Denver's Carmelo Anthony (39), putting on an incredible show.

Now, the Nuggets are behind for the first time in the postseason, but not lacking confidence after holding the lead for most of Game 1. Poor free-throw shooting (23-for-35), Carter's ill-advised pass and an inability to slow down Bryant in the fourth quarter proved their undoing. Game 2 is Thursday night.

"There are no moral victories in playoff Basketball," Denver coach George Karl said. "But we did a lot of good stuff, played probably well enough to win."

After 47-plus heart-pounding minutes, the drama peaked with a heart-wrenching final ticks.

With 30.5 seconds left, and coming off a timeout, Carter lofted the inbound pass near midcourt over the 6-foot-9 Odom, who blocked his view. Carter was trying to hit Chauncey Billups. Instead, Ariza zoomed in from behind and had a clean steal in front of Billups.

"Odom was a little bit too tall for me - I thought I could get the ball to Chauncey at the top, and Ariza ran to the play," Carter said.

Ariza said there was enough loft on the pass he had time to sprint past Billups and intercept the ball.

"I saw him throw it," he said, "and I went to get it."

Denver fouled with 10 seconds left, but Bryant made both free throws for a four-point lead. The Nuggets sliced the lead with a Billups fadeaway 3 (replay shows he actually stepped out of bounds from deep in the left corner.) But, with 3.2 seconds left and leading 105-102, L.A. purposedly fouled J.R. Smith to prevent a game-tying 3-point attempt. Smith made the first free throw, and intentionally missed the second, but Bryant corralled the rebound for the victory.

"Of course, we had a lot of chances to win the Basketball game," Anthony said.

If it wasn't for Anthony, Denver wouldn't have had much of a chance. Melo tallied another memorable playoff performance, perhaps the best of his six-year career.

Karl has said Anthony is at his best when he zips out in transition and scores before the defense sets up. On Tuesday night, he consistenly beat the Lakers' defense to favorable shooting spots. He was 14-of-20 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the 3-point line. Anthony Melo also had six rebounds and four assists.

The Lakers, naturally, countered with Bryant, who scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, when L.A. rallied from seven points down. In the second half, while playing to chants of "M-V-P!", Bryant caught fire, consistently getting to the line and beating whomever the Nuggets tried to have match up with him.

"It's crazy that you start to get used to it, to get used to greatness," Odom said.

But, as Carter said, there's a long ways to go. And plenty of time for Denver to recover from a missed opportunity. --------------------------------------------------------------- Highlights

Melo on fire. Not only did Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony score a team-high 39 points, he hit 4-of-5 shots from 3-point range.

Billups steps up. Chauncey Billups, who played well in Los Angeles during the 2004 NBA Finals, had eight assists for the Nuggets and committed only one turnover. He made two clutch 3-pointers late.

Lowlights

Clank, clank. The Nuggets shot just 65.7 percent from the free-throw line, missing 12

attempts.

Jones struggles. Dahntay Jones started out guarding Lakers star Kobe Bryant but got in foul trouble early and scored just one point in 16 minutes.

Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post