LOS ANGELES -- They can stomp teams when their best player can't score. They can spend the better part of every season tangled in petty tiffs. They can, pretty much, do as they please.
The result never changes.

The Los Angeles Lakers closed Chapter 2 of their four-part series with the Denver Nuggets with another victory Sunday, this one 105-98 at the Staples Center.

They beat Denver by 21 Wednesday at the Pepsi Center despite a 10-point scoring effort from Shaquille O'Neal.

They beat the Nuggets this time because they are the Lakers, and they are supposed to win.