Quote Originally Posted by midnightpulp
I was just giving you some playful when I said your belief is cute. I know you're not a dumb homer Lakers fan who thinks this team has a '95 Houston Rockets like run in them.

But I do somewhat disagree they're starting to "click," insofar as evolving from a mediocre team into a playoff threat/darkhorse. I don't think the Lakers are really playing all that much better now than when they were 8 games under .500. I believe the odds are now working in the Lakers favor and they're finally winning some close games. Earlier in the season, the Lakers couldn't buy a late 4th quarter run or hold a team off. You can say they improved their 4th quarter play (which I think they have, but only marginally), but down-to-the-wire games can also be a crap shoot. And the Lakers have been rolling 7s lately.

I simply can't buy a team that has "figured it out" and is starting to click would get down 20 to the Bobcats, eek out a one point win at Detroit (yeah, the Spurs lost to them too), lose by 20 to Boston, give up 125 points to the Clippers, and be in dogfights with Portland and the Hawks at home. A few bounces go the other way, and the Lakers are looking at .500 record over the last month.

The Lakers are playing with the same kind of inconsistency that typically defines lower seeded teams. Look great one game, average the next, crappy the next, great again, and so on.

That said, as I've stated before, I do think the Lakers present some matchup problems to the Spurs, mainly on the offensive glass where the Spurs have been getting hammered this year, and if Kobe can summon some of his vintage defensive form, he could frustrate Parker, much like Thabo did last year. In addition to that, the Spurs would definitely feel the pressure in needing to beat the Lakers to avenge '04 and '08, so there's some psychological factors at work that could come into play.

Definitely not the best first round draw. On paper, the Spurs should win that series in 6 max. But as the saying goes, "Games aren't played on paper."
Kobe promised the playoffs, not sure how motivated the Lakers are going to be once they get there.