N.B.A. Playoffs - Lakers Face Thunder After Edging Nuggets LOS ANGELES - Entering Game 7 of their Western Conference playoff series against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers faced questions about the future of their coach, Mike Brown. And about the heart of center Andrew Bynum, the fortitude of forward Pau Gasol, the attitude of forward Metta World Peace and the strength of the team's bench. Those questions were answered and the doubts were removed for one night as the Lakers, playing as a cohesive, efficient and inspired unit, defeated the Nuggets, 96-87, to advance to the second round Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Time to exhale? Not possible, because the pressure is about to increase as the euphoria quickly fades in the face of an even bigger challenge. The Lakers will face a team that beat them twice in three games in the regular season, finished with six more regular-season victories, will have home-court advantage and will have had a nine-day layoff by the tip-off. The Thunder swept the defending champion Dallas Mavericks in their first-round series. The Lakers lost two straight to Denver, leaving them on the brink of becoming the ninth team in N.B.A. history to blow a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series, and then blew a 16-point third-quarter lead before finally prevailing Saturday. "You're going to go through a lot of obstacles," Brown said of the playoffs. To get to a Game 7 and win was one of them. To fly to Oklahoma City to play a rested team is another. Brown faced an unexpected obstacle before he even got to the arena Saturday. Magic Johnson, a former minority owner of the Lakers and still a team vice president, predicted on ESPN that Brown, concluding his first year as the coach, would be fired if the team lost Game 7, and that Bynum and Gasol might follow him out the door. Laker management responded with a statement of confidence in Brown, but true confidence will not come until he can at least reach the N.B.A. finals, if not win a championship. When you sit in the sideline seat previously occupied by Phil Jackson, you do not receive hugs for winning a first- or even second-round series. Asked about his inclusion in Johnson's remarks, Bynum said: "I don't listen to Magic. I don't have time to entertain stuff like that. Gasol and Bynum were the objects of criticism after their poor play in Game 6 against the Nuggets. Gasol also struggled at other times in the series, reviving the charge that he plays soft. Bynum had little influence in a game Denver won by 17 points, failing to rotate on defense or show much hustle or determination. Earlier in the series, he acknowledged that he was not mentally prepared for one game. All that was forgotten, at least temporarily, after Game 7. There was nothing lackadaisical about Bynum, who had 16 points, 18 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. There was nothing soft about Gasol, who had a team-high 23 points and added 17 rebounds. "There was a lot of energy going through my body," Gasol said. Can the Lakers sustain their energy against the younger, faster, more athletic Thunder? Every time Bynum appears ready to play up to his potential, he seems to slide back into lethargy and mediocrity. It may be generated by a perceived bad call by a referee, a hard foul by an opponent or a selfish move by Bynum himself, bringing down the wrath of his coach. "Some days are up, some days are down," Bynum said. The reserve guard Steve Blake showed some hunger of his own on Saturday. Coming into the game having shot just 36.4 percent from the field with nine 3-pointers in 24 attempts, he came off the bench to score 19 points, making 5 of 6 from 3-point range. The Lakers will need him to maintain a hot touch against an Oklahoma City bench led by the sixth man of the year, James Harden. An elbow to the side of Harden's head, applied viciously by Metta World Peace, drew a seven-game suspension, including the first six games of the Denver series. Metta World Peace returned Saturday night, playing well at both ends of the court. But now he must maintain his often fragile focus and composure in one of the most hostile settings possible, Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena. He has not spoken to Harden since the episode. Asked if he would offer to shake hands with Harden before Monday's tip-off, he said: "I don't fist-bump substitutes. I'm all about moving forward, not looking back.