LAKERS -at- SPURS - 5/27 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Win No. 11 - Unbreakable... Are we not good enough? Are we not strong-willed enough? They threw everything at us in San Antonio, and the Lakers survived to take the 93-91 road win.

From the Spurs perspective, this game will be remembered for a non-call with a second left 35 feet from the hoop when Fisher got contact with Barry on the floor. For Laker fans, this game will be remembered for the other 47 minutes and 59 seconds.

Phil highlighted the play seconds before this when DFish's jumper grazed the rim and went off Horry out of bounds. The refs didn't reset the 24-second clock, leaving us just 2 seconds to shoot with 5 seconds in the game. "I'm positive Fisher's shot hit the rim," Phil said. "That ball should have been ours with a new 24-second clock. The game shouldn't have come down to that situation."

We missed a tough jumper, and the Spurs had a shot to win it. The Spurs play busted when DFish made a great switch onto Barry. He got caught in the air and had contact with Barry before the shot. Barry rose up and missed a heave at the buzzer.

"I think it was a proper no call," Pop said. "If I was the official I wouldn't have called that a foul."

And this was just the last few seconds.

Prior to that, Lamar, Fisher and Sasha all had foul trouble...each picking up key whistles on cheap loose-ball foul calls. Kobe never got to the line once in this game. Not once.

The point being with all that is the Lakers showed the kind of resilience that a champion has to have. The game wasn't handed to them. They had to take it...and take it from a defending champ that hadn't lost a home game in the playoffs.

All of this will probably take away from a great fourth quarter by Lamar. From some feisty work in the paint and on the boards on both ends by Pau. From DFish hitting a big jumper late. From Vlad doing a lot of little things on both ends. From Sasha and Kobe's D on Manu. From Phil having to scramble lineups like crazy throughout the game.

"We've got Everest to climb being down 3-1," Barry said. (Barry, too, said afterward that he didn't think that was the type of play a ref would blow the whistle on.)

The Spurs may have Everest, but the Lakers have to be that mountain. No let down. Leave everything on the floor to get one more "W" and you return to the Finals.


Kobe -- -- Kobe returns home with just 1 freethrow attempt in two games in San Antonio. Wow. I don't think anything like that has happened for years. Back-to-back games with one freethrow attempt combined? His ability to manufacture points by drawing the whistle is key to our game. That's an amazing stat. Hopefully, the whistles return for us when he gets back to Staples. Kobe helped the Lakers build a nice lead late in the fourth -- getting a big steal and dunk and it appeared like we were in control. Flash forward to half a minute left, Kobe seeing a lane and attacking when we could have pulled it out and milked down the clock. He missed and the Spurs quickly scored the other way. That was poor clock management and it nearly cost us. He knew it. Thankfully, we didn't pay the price. Anytime he had a bit of daylight like that in transition, he was attacking and the tempo was in our favor. That play, you just need to be aware of the situation. We run time off and miss, then the Spurs have to go into foul mode the remainder of the game. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 14-29 shooting (0-1 from three, no FTs) to go with 10 boards (great job), 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 41 minutes. The Action: He posted up Bowen and traveled. He passed up on what could have been a layup to kickout to Vlad, who hit the jumper. He drained a wing jumper off the two-man with Pau. He overpowered Bowen on the break for a score. Wide open baseline jumper off the two-man with Pau and he knocked it down. He jab-stepped Manu to get space and knocked down the mid-range wing jumper. He missed a three. He missed a drive over Duncan at the end of first. He missed a wing jumper. He blocked Parker's dribble penetration. He attacked on the break, drew a whistle but passed off. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed a pull-up jumper with contact and no call. He hit an elbow jumper. He hit a pull-up jumper over Manu with a second left (looked like Manu got away with a handcheck that would have been his third foul). He had 12 points at the half, and we had a 6-point lead despite all the Laker foul trouble. Second Half: He looked indecisive on a runner in the lane and bricked it off the front rim. Stupid, soft push foul from behind and he gave up an And-1 to Duncan. He spotted a seam, attacked in early offense and scored the layup. Nice touch, pulling up in the lane to avoid a charge and hitting the 5-footer in transition. He lost the ball and wanted a foul. He swished a 16-footer coming off the weakside screen. He missed a long wing jumper. He worked off the Gasol screen and bounced a pass to him in the lane for the score. He threw down a reverse dunk, cherry picking while the Spurs missed in transition. Odd, fading jumper out of a timeout, looked like he had room to attack. He chucked up a long jumper over Udoka (Horry was zoning, he should have attacked and kicked). He attacked off the screen on the next play, turned the corner and threw down a two-handed jam. Back in after a couple minutes rest, he swished a wing jumper with his toe on the three line. He drained a wing catch-and-shoot on his next touch. He missed a jumper, but Ronny got the board after crashing off the screen-roll. He missed a pull-up jumper, worried about the D behind him off the screen. He attacked, hung and airballed a short one and yelled at the refs for the call. He swiped the ball from Manu off the handoff and took it the other way for a dunk. He missed a runner with a minute left. He attacked way early in the clock in transition and missed, the Spurs scored with 28 seconds left. He missed a jumper trying to beat the shotclock with a couple seconds in the game.

Gasol -- -- Pau, you got to make those freethrows. He missed two with 50 seconds left and it nearly came back to bite us. He's usually been reliable in the final minute, but not this time. Offensively, while Pau didn't score at a high rate, he was vital to our success. Anytime we were able to work off his high screens on the two-man game, good things usually happened. Pau led the Lakers in assists. There was a big difference in our offense when we couldn't do that or when he sat for Ronny. He also did a much better job on the boards on both ends. He was causing a lot more problems for the Spurs on the offensive glass and the Lakers won that battle 13-8. He's got to stay active like that. Defensively, Duncan scored 29 points but did it on 10-26 shooting. Pau was disruptive on a number of possessions. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. The Action: He scored a putback on our first possession when LO missed the jumper. He was blocked by Duncan on a quick post attack. Duncan pushed off on the boards for a foul. He scored when Vlad hit him with a high-low pass under the hoop working a two-man sequence. He missed a hook with his left. Good fight under the defensive boards and he drew a foul on Horry. Good effort on the offensive glass and he drew a foul for FTs, he made both. He blocked Duncan using his length well. Good position and he banked with his left for a score. Quick spin move on the entry pass to pick up a foul on Duncan. He had 8 points at the half. Second Half: He scored a layup when Kobe hit him with the bounce pass in the lane (Pau was laughing at the no-call on that play). He and Kobe worked the two-man game, Pau took the pass and fed Lamar for the layup. Good challenge on Duncan's post-up to force a miss. Great D again, somehow stopping Duncan on multiple shots in the paint. Nice job jumping into the offense play with speed, taking a pass and quickly hitting Lamar for the dunk. He tapped out a missed FT from Lamar and the Spurs lost it on a scramble. He was fouled battling for a defensive board with 50 seconds, he missed both FTs.

Lamar -- -- Lamar worked on his freethrow shooting between games. We needed it. He led the Lakers with 8 points in the fourth, hitting several clutch FTs to go with some scores in the fourth. We don't win this game without him manufacturing points in that final quarter. Well done. His time of the floor was severely limited with a series of cheap fouls that got him sidelined. He definitely seemed more decisive in what he wanted to do. I'd still like to see him in the post a bit more against the Spur PFs. Lamar led the Lakers with a +11. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 4-9 shooting (8-9 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 5 fouls. The Action: He missed an open 19-footer on the first possession of the game, interesting shot selection. He passed on a dunk attempt to kick it out to Vlad, who missed the three, but LO got it back. Aggressive off the dribble, he missed, Pau kept it alive, he got it and drew FTs on the attack in the paint, he made both. He picked up a cheap second foul with 4:33 left in the first, looked like Parker just ran into him (Lamar had to sit). He had Parker on a switch, drew the D on the post entry and hit Luke cutting for the dunk. He was called for three seconds posting up and not getting his feet out of the lane. He got tapped on a 15-footer straight away. He picked up his third foul with 8 minutes left in the half while grabbing a loose ball, he had to sit. Second Half: He swished a wing jumper. He missed a step-back 16-footer. Quick first step on Duncan and he just missed an And-1 layup, he made both FTs (wouldn't mind seeing if we could get that match up some more on switches). He scored a layup off the extra pass when Kobe and Pau worked the two-man game. He picked up his fourth foul with 1:52 in the third and had to sit. He switched on Parker and got the stop on the drive. He missed a runner. He dunked off the pass from Pau in semi-transition. Wow, looked like a sure charge on Duncan and they gave a blocking foul to Lamar, his fifth. On the other end, he attacked to his right and scored an And-1 reaching up with his left, he made the FT. He left Barry alone in the corner for a three out of a timeout (saw that coming a mile away). Quick first step on Manu and he drew FTs off the attack, he made one with 1:51 left. He crashed the boards and drew a foul with 56 seconds left, he made both to give us a 7-point lead.

Fisher -- -- The Spurs gave Fish a lot of credit for his read on that final defensive play. Sasha got screened and Fish had to make a decision. He got caught in the air, took some contact and Barry then heaved up a long three and missed. Spurs fans got to love DFish. Offensively, DFish bounced back and gave us some solid perimeter shooting, including a key make in the final couple minutes. Parker had 23 points and 9 assists. I'd concede those points if our guys wouldn't leave the shooters as much. Make Parker a scorer. Stick tight on guys like Brent Barry and Manu. Hopefully, we realize that Barry is shooting lights out. It may cost our PGs some more points to Parker, but we're better off if we can keep the Spur shooters out of it.The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: He hit Vlad trailing the break for a dunk. He drained an early offense baseline jumper right over Parker. He swiped a Duncan pass while zoning up and outlet to Kobe for the breakaway score. He missed a 20-footer, short. He swished a three over Parker from the right corner. He picked up his third foul reaching for a loose ball with 5 minutes left in the half. Second Half: He sank a pull-up 18 footer off the screen. He took contact and no call on the break and lost the ball, should have been a foul. He reached on a Duncan jumper and picked up his fourth foul with 3:50 in the third. He missed a pull-up jumper, Pau got it back, Fish got the ball, worked off the screen and swished the 19-footer with 2:24 left. He skimmed the rim a jumper with 5.6 seconds left and it went off Horry and out of bounds (the refs said it was an airball, though). He got caught in the air and hit Barry, no call, Lakers win.

Radmanovic -- -- Even though Vlad had a few possessions where he should have stuck on Barry, I really like this game from him. He was hustling. Just a lot of those little plays that make a difference in a battle at this level. Passes, hustle on the offensive glass or for loose balls, running the break...all those things are huge for us. With the foul trouble to others, Vlad's rotations were mixed around quite a bit. He had five different stints. He was part of a +5 unit late in the fourth. He's been watching from the sidelines as Sasha usually closes out those minutes with the starters. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-8 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. The Action: He trailed the break and threw down off the Fish bounce pass. He missed a three on a kickout from Lamar. He swished a baseline jumper on a kickout from Kobe. He hit a pull-up wing jumper. Great extra pass, pulling up at the FT line to shoot, then going high over Duncan to Pau for the score. He sagged off Barry to help penetration and we gave up a three. In for Lamar, he swished a sideline three. He kept an offensive board alive and Farmar grabbed it and scored. He missed a wing three. He grabbed an offensive board over Manu and banked in the shot. He had a pass picked off out of a timeout. Great hustle off a missed FT by Luke to save it back in bounds and give us the last possession of the half (Kobe would score off this). He had 11 points at the half on 5-7 shooting. Second Half: He doubled off Barry and gave up a three. He airballed an open three on the other end trying to get it back.

Luke -- -- He came in with 4:33 left in the first when Lamar had to sit with fouls and had a disastrous start. He turned it around at the start of the second quarter. He only got one solid post possession, but promptly scored an And-1 over Manu. I keep hammering on this, but we need to get him in the post against that Spurs second unit to start the second quarter. They don't have an answer for him. They've either fouled or let him score on the few touches he's gotten there. Much better than seeing him try to create off the dribble or shoot pull-ups in the lane. He had 8 points in that second quarter. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-10 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 20 minutes. The Action: He was called for a travel on a drive as soon as he entered the game. He missed a layup and then a three. He charged off the dribble, just a terrible start for Luke. He drew FTs out on the break, he made just one. He bricked a layup. Kobe yelled at him at the end of the first quarter. He started to be more effective after that. He set up Ronny on a spin move for FTs. He dunked when Lamar drew the D in the post and found him next time down. He snagged a loose ball under the basket and scored a layup. He missed a layup. He bricked a three-footer. He beat Manu to a loose ball and scored on the baseline. He posted up Manu, overpowered him and scored the And-1 layup the next time down, he missed the FT. He had 9 points at the half. Asked about his success in this game, "I'm still struggling," he said at the half. "I missed a bunch of easy shots." Second Half: In at PF for Lamar. He clanked a wing three at the end of the third.

Turiaf -- -- Phil went with Ronny for a few too many minutes in that fourth quarter. Pau sat for 4:25 in the middle of the fourth. Our offense struggled. We went on a run when Pau re-entered the game. It wasn't that Ronny was playing bad, in fact, he was a +2 on the night (which says something about our second unit holding the line). But Pau could have easily played a couple more minutes. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting (2-2 from the line), no boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 foul in 11 minutes. The Action: He swished an elbow jumper on his first attempt to start the second. He drew FTs when Luke set him up in the paint, he made both. He got sealed by Duncan for a layup. He missed a 16-footer from the elbow. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He was called for a loose ball foul going for a board.

Farmar -- -- I'm glad he's not facing a stronger guard. With DFish in foul trouble that might have been trouble for us like it was in Utah on the road. Farmar, however, was able to hold the line. He couldn't score for squat, but the dropoff in our team play with Fish's foul trouble wasn't there. Farmar was called for a couple cheap fouls in this game. Bowen made like he was launched from a rocket when Farmar put an off arm on him on the break. And Barry got a touch foul for FTs early in the game from about the same distance as where Fish later got contact with a second left. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting (0-2 from three), had 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. The Action: Cheap foul 30 feet from the hoop on Barry to send him to the line. He missed a three. He hit Luke on the break after scooping up a loose ball and it led to FTs. He grabbed an offensive board that Vlad kept alive and scored a layup. He was called for an offensive foul when he put an arm on Bowen on the break and Bowen flailed and sped up like he had been shoved. He got swatted on a drive in transition. He missed a three. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to Sasha for the And-1 three. He missed on a drive attempt over Parker.

Vujacic -- -- "Phil sent me out on a mission, so I don't want to let him down," Sasha said beforehand. He was talking about locking down Manu on D. Mission accomplished. Manu was 0-4 in the first half and didn't score. He had 7 points on 2-8 shooting for the game. Good job by Sasha shading him right, forcing him off the three line and funneling him to help. You've got to stay tight on Manu and make him try to change directions off the dribble. He's struggling with that right now and we've got to take advantage. Sasha had some foul trouble in this game for the first time in a long time. Offensively, Sasha had a huge 4-point play, but other than that, he was a bit of a wreck. In fact, he scored all his points on that single play. Some poor decisions got him sidelined for part of the fourth. The Stats: He had 4 points on 1-6 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. The Action: He charged on a drive. He missed a jumper from the wing. He missed an open wing three. Then was called for his third foul reaching for a loose ball. Second Half: He missed an open corner three, short. He drained a big And-1 three from the left side with 49 seconds left in the third, he made the FT. He missed a top-of-the-key three. He then got tied up for a jumpball off the dribble. Back in with under 2 minutes left and he missed an open baseline jumper badly.

Ariza -- -- Brief stint for Ariza. Nothing meaningful other than that it didn't come at garbage time. The Stats: He played for half a minute. The Action: Nothing in the first half. Second Half: Brief stint at the end of the third while Kobe rested.

Phil -- -- I loved how the Lakers came out of the gates on this one. They had the Spurs on their heels right away and the tempo in our favor... The Lakers had a jump in their step to start and out-scored the Spurs 10-4, hitting 5-7 in the first three minutes... We extended to an 18-8 lead when Pop called his second timeout midway through the quarter and chewed out his team. We got a 24-second violation on them out of that timeout with some good D... Seems like the refs are really protecting the Spurs ballhandlers. A number of touch fouls were being called. Phil was off the bench on an obvious stutter-step travel by Duncan that led to a dunk and wasn't called. He took four steps on that play... Asked what changed for the Spurs at the end of the first, Phil said, "The guys with the whistle." We led 28-23 at the end of the first quarter... Phil started the Ronny, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup to begin the second quarter. We stretched the lead by a couple baskets with that unit and Pop called another timeout... With Lamar on the bench with foul trouble, Phil went with Vlad at PF... With Fish in foul trouble with 5 minutes left in the half, Phil left him in for a possession before bringing back Farmar... Sasha picked up a loose ball foul, his third and had to sit. So, Lamar, Fish and Sasha all had to sit picking up loose ball fouls. We weren't getting any breaks for most of this game... Phil went with a Pau, Vlad, Luke, Kobe, Farmar lineup... The Lakers wen't on a 6-0 run to close the first half and led 53-47. The Spurs went 17-17 from the line, the Lakers 7-9 in the first half. Brent Barry also had 12 points. we had an 11-2 advantage on the offensive glass and a 20-2 advantage on second-chance points. We had just 6 assists... When Fish picked up his fourth foul, Phil brought in Sasha at the PG spot for a couple possessions... The Lakers led 77-70 at the end of three. Phil started a Pau, Vlad, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup. Our 7-point lead was trimmed to 2. We didn't run the offense through Pau like we should have with that lineup. Phil called a timeout 2 minutes into the quarter... He brought back in Lamar, Ronny and Kobe to go with Luke and Farmar... He gave Pau a looong rest, 4:25 worth. Ronny looked like the weakspot on our offense and it was mucking things up. He finally brought Pau back in with 5 minutes left and a 2-point lead. He went with a Pau, Lamar, Vlad, Kobe, Fish starting unit... With Kobe on Manu, we went on a 7-0 run and took a 9-point lead with 3:26 left... An open three for Barry. Some poor clock management by Kobe on a play. A bad call by the refs not recognizing Fish's jumper hit the rim, and the Spurs had a chance to tie or win the game with a couple seconds left. Should have never gotten to that point... Some things to work on for the next game: Stay with Barry. He's draining the open looks like freethrows. He had 23 points off the bench. That won't cut it... Great job out-rebounding the Spurs 13-8 on the offensive glass. Phil made a point of that after our last loss...

Game Flow -- LINK -- The Lakers came out on a mission with an 18-4 run early on. The Spurs played from behind the rest of the game. Finley was a -18. Oberto a -15.

[Brandon98]

Lol @ Fish getting the Devil with sunglasses.

[Dr. Laker]

Great job, DB.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[8750]

thanks, DB
we are definitely superior, when we play transition... the spurs don't have legs to play at that rhythm... what i still don't like is the wide open three pointers that our d allows...
on that infamous possession, i'm pretty sure that kobe was waiting for a foul by the spurs -they were down four, thirty seconds to go- and finding himself in the paint he tried to get a two plus one... too bad the spurs didn't foul him...

[Klone_dd]

I mentioned in one of the earlier threads that for 47:58 the Lakers were playing 5 against 8, but because of that last non-call, the game will be remembered as the Lakers getting the favorable calls.

Kobe's still shooting at a very efficient clip. He's taking what SA's giving him and hitting 53% for the series. Keeping him off the line is keeping the series close. Can you imagine if he got 1/3 of his normal FTs? The big stat tonight was his 10 boards. On his bad clock management play, it looked as if he were going to lob it to Pau for a closing dunk. Instead, his pass was challenged and Kobe was too far committed to pull it back in so he just shot it. It would've been better to take the travel call and allow the D to set up. But in the worst case scenario, SA got a quick 2. He usually doesn't make plays like that and I'm sure he's kicking himself over it.

LO was huge in the 4th. Normally, his foul trouble alone would've taken him out of the game mentally. Props to him for stepping up.

Fish - I would've given anything for him to can his last jumper and remind everyone of his .4 shot. It did graze the rim, however. He was solid.

Pau, IMO, focused on making Timmy work for his points. As good a job as you could hope for. But, yeah, he's gotta can the late FTs.

Vlad - very good, active minutes. Sasha - fine D on Manu, too mechanical on the O, but the 4point play was sweet.

[20,000]

Lakers have to come out in Game 5 with no mercy. They need another 30 point win to send a message. All the players need to play better, and all of them can. Don't give the Spurs any chances. Don't give them cause for hope. Beat them down. Don't want to embarrass themselves by blowing a 3-1 series lead....again.

But the Lakers have shown something really great this postseason. Unbeaten at home, and have won on the road in Denver, Utah (the toughest road win in the league this season), and now San Antonio arguably the second toughest road win). If they maintain home court advantage into the Finals, they have shown they can win anywhere and could take games in either Boston or Detroit.

First things first. Win at home on Thursday and then they can worry about Detroit or Boston.
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Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[berhin]

The Spurs must be kicking themselves in the ball. They had so many opportunities to take the lead, get energy from their crowd and pull off an upset. Unfortunately they trailed all game and lost. I was worried that if they took the lead, it would he difficult for the Lakers to get it back.

[City_Dawg]

DB coming through like always

Aside from the last 50 seconds , im proud of how our boys played, they battled and never quit.

Damn proud.

GO LAKERS!
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*sighs*

!...

[AllorNothing]

Who says the triangle offense doesn't run fast breaks? Give Kobe some athletic running backcourts and this team can be even more dangerous. Can't wait until Ariza gets healthier.

[Vadorojo]

Amazing, amazing win. It's really too bad that this game will be remembered for the non-call at the end, especially given the non-24-second-reset and non-goaltend right before it.

Ah, well, the Lakers have the 3-1 series lead and that's what matters. It really was a great, championship-character-building win. I love it!
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"I like looking at a guy's face when he realizes that even his best moves aren't going to work on me all night. They look depressed." - Ron Artest

[A Mad Chinaman]

Did the Lakers had a foul to give in the final seconds of the 4th quarter? If so, it wouldn't matter if he was fouled on the floor.

also, didn't the ball hit the rim on DFish's shot right before the last play of the game?

[DancingBarry]

Ball hit the rim on Fish's shot. We should have had the ball and the clock, forcing the Spurs to probably foul Kobe on an inbounds so he could bury two freethrows and ice it.

If Barry went up to shoot while Fish was in the air and draw contact and got the call, that would have been 3 FTs versus a floor foul and 2 FTs. Difference between a win or tie.

[jmark]

Don't forget TD's obvious walk & dunk in the 1st half. Nice gritty win by the Lakers.
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"I appreciate all those who have supported me. Thank you for believing in me. My family and I are going to need your support and prayers now more than ever." Kobe

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB! A championship effort last night. They were poised and determined to overcome every obstacle last night. LO is growing up - maybe he turned the corner last night? Luke missed some chippies but he also posted Ginobli up a few times for key putback buckets.

Overall, I'll take that effort and run with it. Great win LA! 5 more - HOOT!

[prisma8slg]

what a game. If we had lost that game, I don't know what I would've done. it's hard to believe that Lamar only had 9 rebounds, because it seemed like he was grabbing every one. I was so confused with Kobe's lack of clock management in that final minute. I know he'll be more mindful of it in the future, but still...
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"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

R.I.P. SAN ANTONIO
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[VujacicFan]

Great write-up

[yanyon]

thanks for the recap DB

[bryants2hot2handle]

great recap! thx for that

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

What impressed me was how composed the team played, despite being on the receiving end of some particularly bad officiating. Most teams (especially younger ones) would have melted down, and resorted to bad shots, frustration fouling, or even been hit with a technical or two. I realize it's premature, but they actually demonstrated championship mettle.

[BigEvil]

Great win. I was a dumbass and didn't add extra time to the DVR recording and missed half the 4th. But I guess Sports Center is better than nothin'.

It seems to me that the Spurs are done. They look tired. Manu is clearly injured. Even Timmy was sucking wind at the end. I don't think they have it in them to win this thing, and at 3-1, history is against them.

I think game 5 is the Lakers for the taking. I think they can run Timmy and crew out of the building in the 1st quarter. I expect Kobe and Fish (with friendly rims) to come out Thursday and try to bury the Spurs early. Of course they are still the Champs until they lose, but the Lakers I think can smell the blood in the water... and they're hungry.

[limchrc]

Kudos for showing signs of growing up... Hope we can close it out on 5.

[cmonkee]

i find it awesome that the Lakers are the first team to force Ginobili to go to the right

[wolfpaclaker]

Spurs just have no answer for the Lakers combination of size, speed + athleticism.

Bryant.
Odom.
Farmar.
Radmanovic.
Gasol.

Those 5 players in particular give SA trouble, because it is extremely difficult for SA to match up with them.

Bryant - They put Bowen on him, but any time Bowen is off the floor, they are often giving Kobe dunks/layups. While they are not doubling Bryant, what they are afraid of is putting a lesser defender on him (like Finley or Manu) who may be better offensive players than Bowen. With Bowen, he is a good spot shooter, but not really an offensive scorer/creator. This only makes it easier for LA to collapse and trap on SA's main weapons (Duncan, Parker, Gino).

Odom - They've doubled him more, which in itself shows a sign of a team that understands they can't defend him 1 on 1, but when Lamar has made his FT's and finished his plays, they have no idea what to do. Lamar like Kobe is extremely dangerous on the break, and is one of the reasons why SA is not even trying to rebound aggressively in this series.

Farmar - Another player that has torched their 2nd unit guards. His speed with shooting ability has given them immense problems when the 2nd units come into play. Also a good fastbreak threat.

Radmanovic - Like Odom, he has PF size with a perimeter game and good speed. That has allowed him to often be in a position to score inside, without much trouble. If his jumpshooting were on, this series wouldn't even have been close.

Gasol - Makes TD work. That's the key. TD has to put a body on him and this forces Oberto or Horry or someone not named Duncan to be the last line of defense (anchor). Without that shotblocking presence of Duncan, we are seeing guys like Radmanovic, Odom, Farmar, Kobe all get layups and dunks that weren't normal.

Finally, they just are not even challenging us on the glass. Why? They are afraid that LA will sneak out on them and break. Since they can't match the transition speed, their goal is to not challenge for 2nd chances and instead just get back in transition.

Bottom line, LA has been the aggressor most of this series and has more players that cause matchup problems. Usually when that happens, the series is decided in that team's favor.

[Luca Brasi]

watching this team this year is like watching your kid finally stand up after months of crawling around the floor. this is the best part of being a fan - watching your team grow into a championship team right before your eyes. enjoy this people - it doesnt get better than this time right now.
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"i was born down in the valley where the sun refused to shine, but i'm climbin' up to the highlands, goin' to make that mountain mine" ~ Lakers, 2011