GT: Lakers vs. Spurs

[Nolan]

When: 8:30 PM ET, December 28, 2010
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX



VS



Starting Lineups:

Lakers:
PG - Dereck Fisher
SG - Kobe Bryant
SF - Ron Artest
PF - Lamar Odom
C - Pau Gasol

Spurs:
PG - Tony Parker
SG - Manu Ginobli
SF - Richard Jefferson
PF - Tim Duncan
C - Dejuan Blair

Big game on Tuesday night for us against the Lakers. People still don't think we're legit and if we can come out and beat them we're going to send out a message to the rest of the league. As always the key to beating the Lakers is making Kobe into a volume scorer and keeping Gasol out of the paint. Duncan going to have to a great game if we want to win this one.

Go Spurs!!

[co_laper]

Honestly, I don't feel too good about this game. Their last game, they lost to Miami and nobody really played well for them. They got 2 days to prepare for this game and I'm sure they'll be much more focused and play better than they did againts Miami. Plus, don't forget they're fully healthy coming into this game.

The good thing is that we're at home and I bet the Spurs had this game circled for quite some time. I'd like to say SA win, but my gut says Lakers take this one.

[Frankie23]

Big game. But it's not going to be the only one to get the "respect" from the media. We have Dallas, NY, Boston and OKC coming soon and only if we beat LA, Dallas and Boston we will be considered..
If we only beat the Lakers, they will say that LA is playing bad, bla bla, so it's important to win all 3 to achieve that media/fans "respect".

Anyways, both teams would like to win this match really bad, so it's going to be great. Hope we can have a good shooting night to make things easier. Also, defense (and rebounds) will be the key.

Looking forward!! Go Spurs Go!!

[Nolan]

Big game. But it's not going to be the only one to get the "respect" from the media. We have Dallas, NY, Boston and OKC coming soon and only if we beat LA, Dallas and Boston we will be considered..
If we only beat the Lakers, they will say that LA is playing bad, bla bla, so it's important to win all 3 to achieve that media/fans "respect".

Anyways, both teams would like to win this match really bad, so it's going to be great. Hope we can have a good shooting night to make things easier. Also, defense (and rebounds) will be the key.

Looking forward!! Go Spurs Go!!

I think if we can even win 2 out of those 3 games we'll be looking pretty good. The Dallas game is a must win for us though in my mind.

[co_laper]

Yaeh, the big games are LA, Dallas, and Boston. If we lose all 3, that's a disaster. If we lose 2, that's a telling sign that we're not at their level. If we eat 2 of them, I think that solidify our place that we're good enough to play with the big boys. If we win all 3, they should just give us the championship already.

[wizardg]

This is a big game for us and them too.
If they beat us they stop the bleeding and are well - for now.

After their crackings by the Bucks and Heat they should be ready to give it their all, which hasn't been much.
My thinking is we should be able to win theis game by playing hard. As long as Fish and artest stay asleep.

I wonder if Kobe and Manu will go head up. Kobe is looking old. Defensively it seems if he can't grab you he can't guard you.

Can't wait.

[Donald Kaufman]

This is our first real test. The Lakers are not playing well but they didn't make three straight finals and win two championships by accident. They're always dangerous.

Am really looking forward to the game.

[DEEP3CL]

If they beat us they stop the bleeding and are well - for now.

Naw it won't stop the bleeding, we'll still have more work to do in my opinion. We need a chunk of big games to fix things right now.

They got 2 days to prepare for this game and I'm sure they'll be much more focused and play better than they did againts Miami. Plus, don't forget they're fully healthy coming into this game.

Hell we had 3 days to get right for the Miami game and lost that one, to me that's irrelevant. We just have to give effort, the Spurs are a lot different than what we're use to seeing. Teams using high tempo give us problems is transition. And I wouldn't say we're fully healthy, Drew has only been back a little over a week and still not playing many minutes and we're still missing Ratliff too.Our rotation hasn't been the same since he went out.

[Frankie23]

I think one big problem from LA was playing Gasol 40 minutes all games. He started the season at a VERY high level, but that rythum killed him.
Anyways, Lakers are more rested now and if we don't give our best effort on D, we won't get a W.
Everybody knows we can't stop Kobe and/or Gasol from scoring +20pts, but we need to stop the Artest+Fischer+Odom+Bench. And please, rebound the ball!!!

[Magz50]

I'm just glad Hill is back, he is such a key part of our second unit now. Without him we look very average. I can see us looking to exploit their weakness at PG with TP and Hill going at Fisher most of the game. As long as we stay consistent at nailing the 3 ball we should have a good chance of winning. If we go cold from outside, it's gonna be tough for us taking it inside against Pau and Bynum. I'd also like to see Splitter play extended minutes tonight, I wouldn't be surprised seeing him and TD share a fair bit of court time if LA go big on us.

[SApuro_]

Spurs at home vs a struggling LA team. I like our odds. If we take this game that gives us 6 games up on LA. Thats a big hole to climb out of. LA looked terrible vs MIA. I loved to see the Spurs come out and pop LA right in the mouth early and don't let up.

Having Hill back even for just limited mins will be key. He always plays Kobe tough.

Spurs 96 Lakers 91

[co_laper]

LA 44, SA 42 Halftime.

Not looking good right now IMO. Gasol is playing well. Duncan and Manu is not. Good thing so far that Kobe is taking and missing a bunch of shots, but at the same time I know that he's gonna start hitting a few shots in a row. he's bound to have a really hot quarter. Can we match it? Will somebody else step up? I think if Duncan or Manu don't show up in this game offensively, there's no way we can win it.

[JasonDaPsycho]

Rooting for the Spurs in this one.

Damn you just have to admit San Antonio knows how to draft the right pieces.

[SApuro_]

Neal is just money. The guy throws daggers with those 3s. Almost too inexperienced to be phased by the Lakers.

[Anklebreaker702]

You guys kicked our @$$! A special props to SApuro for always being classy. What up dawg?

[SApuro_]

Just one game. Next up Dallas.

[Nolan]

Great win tonight! Blair, Neal and Hill were all great.

[PolakFury]

Dayum Spurs are the Cream

[co_laper]

I guess Kobe got overhyped for this game. We played great defense on him but his insistent to keep on shooting took the Lakers out of this game. When he start making 3s in the 4th quarter, it was already too late. 8-27 FG and 5 turnovers for Kobe. More importantly, it kept the ball out of Gasol's hand.

The great thing about us today was that the role players stepped up. Duncan and Manu provided the defensive work but if they're not gonna show up offensively, someone has to. Today, just about every quarter has one or two role players take that load. Parker start the game off hot. And then there was Bonner. Then Hill. Then Neal. Then Blair.. And somewhere in the middle of that is Jefferson.

[Nolan]

Just one game. Next up Dallas.

Very true. Dallas is going to be a tough matchup.