Spurs vs. Lakers: The Morning After
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Just two days after the San Antonio Spurs embarrassed the Miami Heat at the AT&T Center on national television, the Los Angeles Lakers came into San Antonio on a six-game win streak and turned the tables, giving the Spurs their 12th loss of the season 83-99.
The Lakers came out on fire, with several players getting started early while the Spurs struggled.
With 8:35 remaining in the first quarter, Tony Parker hit a jumper that tied the game at 8-8, and that's about as close as it would get for the Spurs for the remainder of the game.
The Spurs would only score five more points that quarter and didn't score at all on the final four minutes as the Lakers went on a 12-0 run to end the quarter up 21 points 34-13.
It wouldn't get much better from there as the Lakers outscored the Spurs in the next two quarters, while the Spurs bench did their best to make the final score respectable in the fourth.
The Spurs were lead in scoring by Gary Neal's 15. Tony Parker and George Hill added 14 apiece. The loss to the Lakers gave the Spurs just their third home loss of the season.
In Retrospect
Jeff Garcia talked to our good friend, Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass, before the game and he had the Lakers winning this one from the start.
"Lakers are on a roll and the Spurs are bound to lose at home sometime, right? I'll pick the Lakers in a close one and everyone will declare for at least one week that the Lakers are back. "
Quoteable
“Yeah, of course nobody expects to be losing by more than 20 in the first quarter, but the way the game presented itself, they were making every shot. We couldn’t make layups, threes, free throws, anything, and besides they played more angry. They played with more edge. We were a little, not soft, but waited to see what was going to happen and they came to get it. They deserved it.” - Manu Ginobili.
Fantasy Focus
With your league playoffs just around the corner, you might be quick to the trigger in moving Manu Ginobilidown your roster after finishing with six points, shooting 3-for-10 from the field and making none of his three-point attempts on Sunday, but he just had a 20 point, seven assist game on Friday and put up 35 points, eight assists and six rebounds against Memphis so don't move on him too fast.
In Black and White
What happened to the Spurs' starters? (San Antonio Express-News)
Lakers pummel San Antonio 99-83 (Los Angeles Times)
The Four Factors
We lost this game but the best is yet come. Let's see what happens in the playoffs. Go Spurs Go!
The Spurs have the best record and have never lost 3 in a row this season this is just one of those bad games for the Spurs. It happens.
i agree with djmart. and i'm surprised that the rebounding wasn't that big of a difference, 49-43, in favor of L.A. it's just the fact that our guys did not look like they had any energy of going for the ball, whether it'd be from a rebound or stealing, or even holding on to the ball and not getting a turnover. add the fact that it was a bad shooting day, we weren't gonna win that game. it was tough watching, but it happens. just look forward to the next game and get refocused. i, too, still think we can beat those Lakers in a 7-game series. for now, i just feel bad for the Pistons on Wednesday night. lol.
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I must admit the score of the game was a let down for me. Not the Loss. Considering the weekend setup gave us 2 contending teams to play in a playoff format (playing Friday night and Sunday), it seemed like the ideal test for the Spurs. However coming off the huge blowout that was 'The Heatles' it is also natural to expect a dropoff the next game...even in the playoffs. How many times have the Spurs done just that! It was also against the 2 time Champs who are trying to make a point going into the final stretch. Even with this loss I still think the Spurs present a matchup problem for the Lakers in a 7 game series with Parker, Ginobili, and the 3 point game. 22 home game win streak was gonna end at some point...
