RealGM

When: 9:30 PM ET, April 14, 2013
Where: STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, CA

Starting Lineups:

Spurs:
PG - Tony Parker
SG - Danny Green
SF - Kahwi Leonard
PF - Tim Duncan
C - Tiago Splitter

Lakers:
PG - Steve Blake
SG - Jodie Meeks
SF - Earl Clark
PF - Pau Gasol
C - Dwight Howard

The Lakers got some very bad news the other day they're going to without Kobe for 6 to 9 months and they still need to keep winning to lock up that 8th seed with only a few games left in the regular season.

Go Spurs!!

Shame to see anyone go down like Kobe did, but let's face it, they weren't winning a thing with or without him anyway. It was funny to see Laker fans assume that if they snuck into the 8th seed they were somehow going to meet up with Miami in the finals. This was never happening.

We're on a B2B, with GS tomorrow, so I assume Pop will either rest guys today or for the GS game?

Can we effectively end the Lakers season with a win?

What is Tony Parker doing 1/10 ????????

There's a bright side here - at least now the Thunder have to play the Lakers in the first round instead of the Jazz. They look better without Kobe.

Agreed. Lakers look really good againts us. Yeah, Steve Blake went crazy, but Pau also missed a lot of shots he usually makes. Most importantly, I liked the way LA play. They pounded the ball inside like crazy and made enough shots from outside to keep the defense honest.

I guess it's looking like either Houston or GS in the first round for us.

2nd seed might really be a blessing in disguise. Houston/GS in first round, and likely Denver in the 2nd round. Much easier than a Lakers matchup followed by Memphis or Clippers. Also, Denver/GS/Houston's style of play might be more beneficial for us. OKC's frontline will be tested in a huge way againts LA/Memphis/Clips.

Yeah I think the 2nd seed is the spot for us, GSW then Denver is the better option I think. Let OKC deal with the Lakers and Grizzlies/Clips.

Going to be interesting to see if the Spurs go all out tonight vs the Warriors, especially if part of the plan is to avoid the Lakers in the first round. It seems almost certain that OKC will be the #1 seed.

But if the Warriors lose their next two games (Spurs, @Blazers) and the Lakers defeat the Rockets, the Lakers would end up with the #7 seed (I'm assuming that the Rockets will dispatch the Suns tonight).

If the Warriors and Rockets each win at least one more game, the Lakers can do no better than the #8 seed.

Actually, my guess is that we're going to rest some guys againts Warriors. It's a B2B and I'm sure rest will be the first thing in Pop's mind. Not sure who's gonna rest.

Most likely Tim Duncan because he's been carrying such a heavy load the last few games.

Parker maybe, but I'm not sure if his struggles right now is because he's not in rhytem or if he's still battling some injuries.

On a side note, it's been a while since we've seen Patty. I'm not sure why, but Cory and Nando hasn't really been blowing away the competition. Cory's best attribute is his defense but he's not a great enough defender to really make a difference on that end. Nando is steady but he's not finding the kind of passes that he found earlier in the season when guys start dubbing him Mini-Manu. Patty, last I remember, seems to always found ways to put up points whenever he enters the game. And that's sort of what we need right now. Some sparkplug off the bench. Really not sure why he's being totally overlooked.

TD, Kawhi and Parker out vs. GS.