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The Lakers are better than the Spurs right now. A playoff upset would be nice, tears and all. We'll see.
Same old L.A. story for Spurs
Jeff McDonald
The final buzzer had sounded, the Spurs' hair-on-fire comeback from 18 points behind had fallen short, and Tim Duncan was looking for someone to hug.
He settled for Kobe Bryant. Then, he patted Sasha Vujacic on the rump and waved a farewell to Derek Fisher.
To the untrained eye, the aftermath of the Lakers' 102-95 victory Thursday night at the AT&T Center looked like goodbye. If Duncan and the rest of the Spurs get their wish, it was just a see-you-soon.
“Obviously, they're the best team in the league right now,” Duncan said. “If we do see them again (in the playoffs), hopefully we've learned something from this game.”
Lesson No. 1?
“You can't spot a team like that that many points,” Duncan said.
Showing no hangover from a hard-fought victory at Houston the night before, the Lakers made 10 of their first 12 shots, burst out to a 23-9 lead after six minutes and were ahead 35-17 after the first quarter.
It was the largest first-quarter deficit the Spurs had faced this season, and they spent the rest of the game as Sisyphus, pushing the boulder up the mountain in vain. The Spurs got as close as two points in the fourth quarter.
“We hung around,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It's just difficult to spot the best team in the league 18 points and then play catch-up.”
Bryant and Pau Gasol each netted 23 points, with Gasol adding 11 rebounds for L.A.
The Spurs (43-21) got 25 points apiece from Michael Finley and Tony Parker — the latter of whom keyed the comeback with 20 points in the second half — but little elsewhere.
Duncan, who is 40 of 92 from the field since his return from a knee injury, labored through another off night. He finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds but missed 7 of 13 shots.
With the win, the Lakers (52-13) became the first team in the West to clinch a playoff spot and reinforced their status as the conference's top dog, extending their lead over the Spurs to 81/2 games. They also took the season series from the Spurs 2-1.
“Obviously, (winning) a back-to-back in Texas is huge for our team,” Gasol said.
Unsurprisingly, it was Bryant who provided the game's biggest made basket.
With 2:19 to play, the Spurs clawed to within two points on Parker's second 3-pointer of the night. Bryant responded by sticking a contested 3-pointer over rookie George Hill, who had just been dispatched into the game to guard him.
“That's Kobe being Kobe,” Duncan said. “He made a big shot.”
That gave L.A. a 98-93 edge with 1:46 remaining. The Spurs would manage just one basket the rest of the way.
The consensus in the Spurs locker room was that the game was lost long before that.
Gasol missed a jumper on the first possession of the game. After that, it would be 6:13 before the Spurs would get another stop.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Derek Fisher and Trevor Ariza, followed by a Bryant drive on Bruce Bowen, gave L.A. a 23-9 lead with 5:59 to go in the first quarter, and transformed the Spurs' home arena — half-packed with Lakers fans — into Staples Center East.
“I don't know what they shot for their first nine or 10 shots,” Duncan said. “I don't even know if they missed. They really got out on us.”
It would have been worse had Finley not apparently discovered a time machine in his locker before the game. Looking a little like the former All-Star that he was, Finley pumped in 17 points in the first half to keep the Spurs from completely capsizing.
By the time the night was over, Finley had his highest scoring night since the 2007 playoffs, when he pumped in 26 points against Denver.
Finley hit another big basket in the fourth quarter, a 3-pointer that set off the 10-2 spurt that got the Spurs within a basket. The Spurs get credit for the comeback, but ultimately left the building Thursday night ruing a poor first quarter that did them in.
And hoping for a chance to make amends.
“We're going to try to finish the season strong,” Parker said. “And hopefully we can play them again.”
The Lakers are better than the Spurs right now. A playoff upset would be nice, tears and all. We'll see.
that really pisses me off.Back-to-back 3-pointers by Derek Fisher and Trevor Ariza, followed by a Bryant drive on Bruce Bowen, gave L.A. a 23-9 lead with 5:59 to go in the first quarter, and transformed the Spurs' home arena — half-packed with Lakers fans — into Staples Center East.
That pisses me off too, these ers shouldnt even be allowed in the building.
you should have seen how they acted...That pisses me off too, these ers shouldnt even be allowed in the building.
howd they act?
Well...jumping up on tables trying to stir things up of course. Chanting "Spurs suck". Bunching up in little groups and trying to start an argument or fight. Trying to be jerks on purpose. You know...what laker fans do.
I don't get where the "fun" is in making yourself look like an idiot.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for cheering for your team, and at this point I believe the Lakers are better than us...but there comes a point when it goes past just being a fan and into the level of pure obnoxiousness. Cheer, boo, do w/e, but you don't have to act like you are a child.
This love fest from our guys for the Lakers is disturbing. I think it's weak and the Spurs should be a little less philosophical about getting their asses handed to them and a little more emotional about being embarrassed. How about showing a little pride ?
No one gives a about making the game close. Bottom line, they didn't play with any urgency and they played scared. The lakers have a psychological edge on the Spurs and we need to fix that quick.
Its really hard for me to believe that Pop lost so much confidence in Bruce so fast. That's a shame. Bruce is STILL our best perimeter defender. If we are trying to change our iden y, I think Pop went a little too far and a little too extreme.
I'm used to hating Laker teams that were actually dominant. This is Lakers lite. What a joke to be scared of them. Go watch video of the Celtics beating them last year.
Laker fans should not be served beer at the AT&T Center...
+1
It's about f'n time we got angry, but you know that ain't gonna happen with us.
How about a little fire? I enjoyed the thread about the Rockets '95 team because it brought back memories of how inspirational that team was. I wish we had someone as salty as Elie, I'm sick of watching us hang our heads FFS.
+2.
I understand the sportsmanship and the healthy respect for the opponent, but to overdose on admiration is another matter altogether.
I wondered why Bowen didn't garner much time on Bryant either - not that it would've done much good. Still it was troubling to see Pop sic Hill on Bryant. Pop has stripped Hill of his backup PG duties, yet now he's his new perimeter defensive stopper? Go figure.
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