The Lakers-Nuggets game was a great game to watch, and with each team having a lot of players who can operate in the post you had a lot of post up opportunities.  This forced both teams to defend players posting up a good chunk of the game, and both teams did a very good job of it.

The first example comes from J.R. Smith when Kobe Bryant tries to post him in transition:

As Lamar Odom brings the ball up, Kobe takes J.R. Smith right into the middle of the lane, sealing him in the paint, and then calling for the ball.

Odom takes a little too long to get the ball into Bryant, and this allows for J.R. Smith work out from behind Kobe Bryant and to the outside.  This is the first key to playing defense in the post.  You want to get on the outside, because this allows you to have the best chance at getting a hand in the passing lane.

You don’t want to completely gamble though, and that is what J.R. Smith does well here.  He gets to the outside and gets a hand in the passing lane.  If he doesn’t get his hand on the ball, he is still in pretty good position here, in between the basket and his man (Kobe Bryant).  Kobe is at fault here a little bit, by not holding his seal.  What I mean by this is that as soon as the ball gets passed to him, he gives up his position to go make the catch.  When you are posting up, you almost want to hold the seal to the very last second, letting the ball come to you, instead of going to get it.

The next post defensive play we are going to look at comes from Ron Artest.  Artest did a fantastic job on Carmelo Anthony the entire game.  Artest was able to frustrate Anthony and not let him get the ball on the block.  In my opinion Carmelo is the best non PF/C in the post, so defending him in the post is no easy task.

Ron Artest gets his body on Carmelo, not letting him post up in the block.  He also picked a side, playing half way in the middle.

Look how far out Carmelo is from when he started.  Artest is able to get his hand on the ball (again, because the sealer gives up his seal too early when receiving the pass), getting a steal and a fast break lay-up.

How important is post defense.  Well when you can do it correctly for the duration of a game like Ron Artest did, you end up forcing the player posting up out of his comfort zone.  Look where Carmelo started making his post up catches in the second half.  This is all the way out to the three point line.  Carmelo is far less dangerous with his back to the basket catching it at the three point line then he is when he makes his catch on the block.  Just by where Carmelo makes this catch, you can see that Ron Artest won this possession.