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If the Spurs can beat NO, I eagerly anticipate a chance to get them back for .4
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Derek Fisher says the road to the NBA le goes through San Antonio since the Spurs are the defending league champions.
The veteran Lakers guard also pays homage to New Orleans as an up-and-coming club that must be taken seriously.
Fisher is well-schooled in diplomacy.
But the Lakers, who await their opponent in the Western Conference finals that begin Wednesday night at Staples Center, could very well be the team to beat. They are at the halfway point of a potential journey to their first le since the Shaq and Kobe days of 2002.
Boston seemed the team to be most wary of entering the playoffs, having gone 66-16 while ruling the weaker Eastern Conference. But the Celtics have looked anything but dominant in the postseason, losing all six of their road games. And they’re no cinch to beat Cleveland in the conference semifinals or Detroit in the conference finals, should they get there.
The Lakers, meanwhile, are an NBA-best 8-2 in the playoffs in the rugged West. They are 6-0 at home, where they haven’t lost since March 28.
And they just got through handing the Jazz. It was Utah’s only sixth home-court loss in 47 games this season, including the playoffs.
“It feels great,” Kobe Bryant said Friday night after scoring 12 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter of a 108-105 victory over the Jazz. “It’s been a great journey and we want to keep it rolling.”
The win was just the second by a road team in 23 second-round games.
“That was another wire-to-wire game for us and the finish was impressive when you’re on the road,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “A real solid performance by our players.”
Jackson gave his team off Saturday and Sunday, although many players are expected to show Sunday at team headquarters in suburban El Segundo for conditioning and treatment.
The Spurs and Hornets meet Monday night in New Orleans to decide that series. The Lakers were 2-2 against both teams during the regular season, beating each at home in the final week. (thats how they ended up #1 ) They opened a 30-point lead before topping the Hornets 107-104, and dominated the second half in routing the Spurs 106-85 two days later. San Antonio star Manu Ginobili sat out that game.
“We have home-court advantage in the next round and that’s a big factor,” Jackson said. “We know probably San Antonio the best of the two teams, having played against them a variety of times. But I think either team is a difficult matchup for us. We anticipate a tough series.”
The Spurs and Lakers last met in the playoffs four years ago, when Los Angeles won 4-2 to advance to the conference finals.
The home team has won each of the first six games of the Spurs-Hornets series, so New Orleans has, at the very least, a psychological edge entering Game 7.
“The Hornets have obviously shown that they aren’t here on accident,” Fisher said. “A lot of people have been just waiting for the other shoe to drop as though they’re just going to fall out of this thing. But that’s not going to happen. They’re a serious basketball team.”
Bryant said following Friday night’s game that he was “normal 100 percent.” So the back spasms that plagued him in a Game 4 loss at Utah last Sunday and slowed him in a Game 5 win at home Wednesday apparently won’t be an issue.
Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal led the Lakers to three straight championships starting in 2000. But until sweeping Denver 4-0 in the first round of these playoffs, they hadn’t won a postseason series after O’Neal was traded to Miami in July 2004.
Now the Lakers have won 16 of 19 games, including an 8-1 finish to the regular season.
“It’s a great accomplishment to get to the conference finals,” Bryant said. “But we believe we can accomplish much more.”
If the Spurs can beat NO, I eagerly anticipate a chance to get them back for .4
Maybe Phil is doing his thing, giving NO something to hang in the locker room.
I think SA Martinez said it best when he said, " Phil Jackson."
So,
The Spurs and Hornets sit around for four days to play game seven, and then the winner will have less than 48 hours to play a road game in Los Angeles.
This is the NBA, where manipulating the schedule to meet their money making goals happens.
There was no good reason for a four day break in this series. San Antonio and New Orleans are being set up to fail in the next series as they will have no preperation time for the next series. In fact, look for game seven to go double overtime just to wear them out some more.
I don't think he's saying that the Spurs are the better team; he's saying that between the Spurs and Hornets, the Lakers know more about the Spurs, which would almost have to be true.
the lakers wouldnt be in the western conference finals if they would have played...shaq a snaq, in the 1st round, or CP3 in the 2nd....gotta give to phil tho....pop said home court advantage wont make much difference this yr,(wrong)...defending yourself after wasting games, trying to get mighty mouse, in the mix of things, while losing valuable homecourt advantage this season may very well be the reason we go fishing early this season...where is mighty mouse now?.....go spurs go
reverse jinx!!!
I am guessing he will stick with the hot and rich Jeannie Buss for his ing needs thank you.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3D2%26hl%3Den
Man I wish game 7 was today!
He is doing his thing. You know he would never actually compliment the spurs. He would rather play the hornets so that's a little motivational boost for them.
PHIL JACKSON, "“We know probably San Antonio the best of the two teams,"
You are right on. Phil is playing mind games, hoping that his rhetoric will incite new orleans to play well against the Spurs in game 7. I'm sure the lakers would much rather play NO than th Spurs.
I don't get it. How is this supposed to inspire teh Hornets to play better? He is just saying that the Lakers know SA better of the two teams. He is not saying they are better than NO.
+170,000
QFT x 5,000
If we win game 7, we are the champions.
you're one of the few here who has reading and comprehension abilities.
Phil is saying he knows the spurs better than NO.
Thats my gut fealing too... even tho LA will be hard with little rest, I can't see this team losing no enyone else... but NO.
Can't wait for tomorow... ing 4 day wait!!!
I agree. "If"
Jackson is salivating over the Hornets. Most of what New Orleans does is predicated off of the whistle as they had the fewest calls against them of any team this year. That will not happen with LA LA land as we know they are the darlings of the playoffs for the officials. If the Hornets move on they will get swept and beat by a wide margin. They will never be able to adjust having the calls go against them,
ClingingMars: I like your birds. Seriously. Do you like the "cotorra" ? or maybe the "ganso" ? please, don't tell me you like s.
Um, guys? He said "We know San Antonio the best," not "We know San Antonio IS the best."
This entire thread has been a reading litmus test.
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