Andrew Bynum had 10 blocks for the Los Angeles Lakers in their easy Game 1 win over the Denver Nuggets yesterday, 103-88, helping him to record the first Laker playoff triple-double since Magic Johnson over two decades ago. But Nuggets coach George Karl isn’t impressed — he thinks officiating may have played a big role in that.

“He was playing nice illegal defense,” Karl said of Bynum, according to ESPN. “He zoned up good. I think we got one illegal defense. I saw about 30.”

The Nuggets shot just 36.5 percent from the field against the Lakers, their worst shooting performance of the entire year. While the defensive presence of Bynum and fellow behemoth Pau Gasol played a part in that, Karl said the refs just wouldn’t give the Nuggets a fair fight.

“It just isn’t going to be called,” he said. “We know it’s not going to be called. It’s just not a thing that’s called. We play too fast sometimes and we don’t let the call happen, and then other times, the action creates the vision of the referees.

“[Bynum] was sensational defensively. Pau Gasol was good out front and they did a great job protecting the basket.”

The Nuggets take on the Lakers in Game 2 tomorrow night, at 7:30 p.m. Pacific.

Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl told ESPN Radio that despite the emergence of Jeremy Lin, he does not see the New York Knicks getting past the first round of the playoffs.

“The thing I don’t like about the situation is all this stuff is happening with very little practice time,” Karl said during an interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN Radio Sunday. “I don’t think they’re going to get out of the bottom half of the draw, so I think they’re going to draw one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference (in the playoffs). I’ll be honest with you, I think it’s going to be very difficult for them this year to put the pieces together to figure out how to beat one of those top three or four teams.”

With star forward Carmelo Anthony returning the lineup, some have wondered if the team would be able to carry the same momentum they had built in his absence. New York lost their first game with Anthony back to the New Jersey Nets Monday night. It marked the first time that rising star Jeremy Lin, Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, and recently acquired guard J.R. Smith have played together.

In Anthony’s absence the Knicks won eight of 10 games. They are currently 16-17, and rank seventh overall in the Eastern Conference.

Both Anthony and Smith played for Karl as members of the Denver Nuggets last year.