At the start of the season, the debate about who would overthrow the Lakers in the West was hardly a debate at all. It was assumed the Lakers would get through the regular season as the top seed in the West and compete for a spot in the NBA Finals, their fourth straight. Their impressive 8-0 start only cemented the belief that no one could overthrow the Lakers reign out West.
What a difference a few months make.
Not only have the Lakers left the door wide open for someone to knock them off their Western Conference Championship perch, but at this point, unless the Spurs suffer injuries or simply fall apart, it looks like the Lakers will concede home-court advantage to them as well.
Perhaps the Lakers feel like they can beat San Antonio without having home-court advantage, after having met so often over the last decade, the Spurs might seem like an ex-wife to the Lakers. Meaning, they know what to expect from the Spurs. Good offense, an even better defense and I’d be surprised if Kobe Bryant couldn’t point out Tim Duncan’s favorite spots on the floor to bank-in a shot off the glass.
Basketball is a game of adjustments and if the Lakers are to succeed against the Spurs, they’ll have to adjust their attack accordingly. Surprise, surprise, these aren’t the same Spurs the Lakers defeated in 2008 to go on to the finals. In fact, they’re not even the same team they met last year in the regular season.
Next: The Spurs shake up the offense, but their defense suffers
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.
Although the two teams have met 11 times in the playoffs and have represented the west in 11 of the last 12 finals, there’s no bad blood or rivalry between the two teams. You’re likely not going to find any of the Lakers sporting Kevin Garnett trash-talking type shoes reading “105-87,” the overall win-loss record the Lakers hold over the Spurs.
If anything, the only on-going debate over the Lakers and Spurs involves the two people at the helm—Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. Since Jackson signed with the Lakers in the 1999-00’ season, there’s been much chatter over who of the two is the better coach.
Things however could change rather quickly.
George Hill might have something to say as he checks Bryant tonight. Assuming Andrew Bynum sits out once again, Gasol and Lamar Odom will have to battle with Blair’s activity under the basket. Then there’s the question of if they can contain Parker’s damage to a minimum.
Fans have only been witness to the Lakers beating two of the top teams in the NBA. A team searching to put their talents to good use on a consistent basis, another trying to prove they’re not a fluke and the Lakers recent drama of late might just be the perfect recipe for a pseudo-playoff game in February.