A team that has either ranked first or second in defense over the last few years, coming into tonight’s matchup, the Spurs’ defensive ranking stands at seventh in the league. If the Spurs aren’t winning by being the best defensive team in the league, then how do you explain them losing only eight games all season? The offense has certainly helped. As great as Duncan has been for the Spurs throughout his career, even he doesn’t stand a chance against father time. The Spurs offense no longer runs through Duncan. Instead, the Spurs have relied on a system that puts the ball in Tony Parker’s hands and allows him to dictate the offense. It doesn’t hurt the Spurs at all to finally have a healthy Manu Ginobli, production from Richard Jefferson and a hard working second unit.
After being trounced by Boston on Sunday and not having established any kind of consistency playing the upper echelon teams in the league, to say the Lakers have a lot riding on the game against the Spurs would be an understatement. The Spurs are coming off a loss to the Portland Trailblazers and have only lost 4 games since last they saw the Lakers in December. A Lakers win could work as a confidence booster for the Lakers (and their fans) and at the same time put an even bigger damper on the 11-game road swing the Spurs are currently on. Not to mention, the Lakers could also end their current home stand on a high-note just before kicking off their own mega road trip.
In order to beat the Spurs, the Lakers will have to be near perfect on both ends of the floor from start to finish. Preventing turnovers will be pivotal against a team that relies on the fast-break to generate their offense. Parker hardly needs to have numbers on fast-break opportunities, consider him a one-man fast break.
Pau Gasol had an impressive game against under-sized Houston center Chuck Hayes, but keeping up with second-year, 6-foot-7, 270-pound forward Dejuan Blair is going to be quite the challenge. The Lakers definitely would not want a repeat of the damage Blair did the last time the teams met up in December when he produced 17 points and 15 rebounds. The Lakers can at least take comfort in knowing that Blair’s numbers drop slightly on the road.
The other thing the Lakers wouldn’t want to have repeated from their last meeting with the Spurs is Bryant’s stat line—21 points on 8-27 shooting and 1 assist. At one point he also missed 13 shots in a row. Sound familiar?
Next: Lakers/Spurs not really a rivalry, but it could happen.