GT: Lakers vs. Spurs

[Nolan]

When: 9:30 PM ET, April 20, 2012
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX



VS



Starting Lineups:

Lakers:
PG - Ramon Sessions
SG - Devin Ebanks
SF - Metta World Peace
PF - Paul Gasol
C - Andrew Bynum

Spurs:
PG - Tony Parker
SG - Daniel Green
SF - Kawhi Leonard
PF - Tim Duncan
C - DeJuan Blair

These guys again? Oh well it always seems to be an entertaining game when we meet up with the Lakers so lets see if we can beat again tonight.

Go Spurs!!

[Nolan]

Looks like Kobe is going to be back for this one.

[co_laper]

Interesting game. I don't think Lakers can take two games at San Antonio. They won last time they're here. Kobe is back and I'm hoping he should atleast be a little rusty. Thing is, Lakers will have revenge on their mind after the blowout win in LA. I think we'll be getting their best shot.

I expected us to win one of our last 2 games againts LA. I thought we'd lose the one at LA, but we won that. So I guess this is probably the game we lose. I hope I'm wrong. Either way, this is gonna be a very exciting game. I'm sure we'll go all out too. Our first game againts LA was so different than our second game againts LA.

First game, our offense was shut down, and we can't stop their bigs.

Second game, our offense was more than fine as we got to the rim over and over again and Bynum/Gasol were contained.

This game should be a true indication of how we really matchup. Will our offense be shutdown again? Will their bigs dominate us? That's gonna be the biggest thing to watch tonight.

[Ballings7]

LAL has just has a comfort level here unfortunately... leaning more towards a close loss

[SinJackal]

We take this, we all but lock up the top seed. This is the Spurs last "tough game". The rest is winnable at a well over 50/50 rate. Cavs and Blazers in SA? Easy. then @suns, and @Warriors to close the season? lol. 2 of the 4 is almost a guaranteed win, the other 2 is like a 67/33 chance of win each game at worst.

Even better, winning here allows us to tank two games in our last 4 and still get top seed. We can even intentionally tank to the Suns to ensure we play them in round 1 instead of the much more dirty Jazz team (which I still wish we knocked off earlier. . .they wouldn't even be in the playoff race right now if we did).

Anyway, hoping for a win here. Go Spurs.

[co_laper]

I guess we're starting Splitter-Duncan again. Let's see how that works out this time.

[co_laper]

Well alright, now I see something here. Bynum is bad at pick and roll defense. Unlike Pau, he can't really show out on the pick so he stays back. What the Spurs are doing so far is continuously put whoever Bynum is guarding as guy who set the picks. When Bynum is guarding Duncan, Duncan sets the pick. When it's Splitter, it's Splitter. On the defensive end, Duncan is doing a great job on Bynum. Splitter's length turns Gasol into a jumpshooter. He doesn't demand the ball much (or perhaps not yet) because the Lakers are trying to establish Bynum inside so far with little success

[SinJackal]

Bynum's favorite hobby is traveling, and he turns off his phone while he does it so nobody can call him.

This game is kinda frustrating to watch. Every time the Spurs go on a run (no whistles involved), suddenly the refs start blowing whistle after whistle to help assist LA back into the game. We should be up by at least 10 right now if not 14 if not for these stupid ass refs.

Do they really expect me to believe the lakers, the team that's clearly fouling more than the Spurs, only committed 6 fouls in the first half and the Spurs have twice as much? 14 free throws to 5 is bull too.

Only reason we're up right now is hot 3pt shooting. Only reason LA is in the game is because of refs. If the refs continue to officiate this biased in the 2nd half we likely won't win.

[SinJackal]

Lakers are picking their teeth up off the floor right now. Now we can happily tank to the Suns if we take our next 2 home games. Then all we gotta do is knock off a crap Warriors team and wham, top seed and set up the Suns as our opponent.

Diaw looked great tonight too. . .and Leonard proved he can D' up Kobe, even though this is Kobe's first game back.

Bynum also got shut the **** down by Duncan too. Just 2 rebounds with 5 mins left in the game.

[LyMinh]

I'm thinking championship

[co_laper]

Although the Splitter-Duncan experiment really isn't that bad, it is obviously not our best lineup. Againts LA and well, IMO Memphis, a Duncan-Diaw lineup looks like the best because Diaw is the best individual defender that we have outside of Duncan. Diaw is the best fit defensively, and he brings a lot of different things offensively in terms of shooting, passing, and slashing.

And yeah, Duncan's individual defense is just amazing againts Bynum. Bynum couldn't even move Duncan despite being significantly bigger, stronger, and more athletic. The great thing is all of our big 3 showed up tonight and we get to see how dominant this team can be when all three are clicking. I mean, my god, that was a clinic we put out there. We got everything we wanted to do on offense, and we shut their bigs down like crazy.

[BFrizzy]

And how about manu tonight? 20 pts off of 9 shots, along with his assists and rebounds. Plenty to be excited about after this game.

I think a lot of spurs fans are breathing a little easier after the first abhorration in the spurs lakers series this season.

[SinJackal]

Too bad I didn't post the "**** it, Spurs by 20" gif before the game tonight! Damn, anybody who turned to that station in the 2nd half would've thought a bomb went off or something after looking at the score.

Anyone remember Bynum last year, saying the Spurs quit in a game against LA? Well Bynum, it looked like you quit tonight son. 2 rebounds and a -26 +/-, rofl. Coincidently, Duncan: +26.

Duncan straight up took a dump in Bynum's mouth tonight, and all he could say was "thank you sir, may I have another?".

Spurs also: Outrebounded them, out offensive rebounded them, shot 61% from the field and 66% from three, and still whipped dat ass by 20+ despite refs giving them almost twice as many free throws, half the fouls against, and more than twice as many turnover whistles.

Spurs only failed to score 30 or more in a quarter once, losing the 2nd 27-24. . .the quarter with tons of whistles in favor of LA. The only time the Spurs stopped scoring on LA was when the refs got involved repeatedly. Every time the refs stopped blowing whistles for awhile, Spurs started to go on a run every single time.

Now all we need is to win our next 2, and we can tank to Phoenix while resting, then just beat up the Warriors and go on to an easy first round against the Suns. Things are looking good right now so long as we stay healthy.

[thecouch]

as a new spur fan (aussie) i always knew the spurs where good but watching them the last few months has been great the team is so deep . every player knows there role. not many super stars would sit on the bench smiling all they want to do i rack up stats . the big 3 are great team mates

[Donald Kaufman]

Great win. We schooled 'em.

Bynum is a great player but he's a punk. So immature. What was with the hissyfit at the end of the first when he got to the bench? He travels on every offensive possession and I think I saw him make one pass out of the post. He's literally a black hole once he gets that ball deep. Again, I do like what he's got in terms of skill but his head is just not right if he wants to go down as one of the all-timers.

I thought Kawhi played Kobe really well, when the refs allowed him to anyway. He got some ticky-tack calls and of course Kobe got the superstar treatment. Jackson played him well when he was in as well.

That bullet pass from Ginobili to Bonner for the lay-in was all kinds of awesome.

Even with Fisher gone, Parker just carves the Lakers up. It's like a layup drill for him. Sessions and Blake can't do a thing to stop him.

TD outplays Bynum in consecutive games as well. Not bad for a soon to be 36 year old.

Pop needs to get the Coach of the Year award. I guess you could make a case for Thibs in Chicago, what with all their injuries, but we were declared as dead and buried coming into this season. The job and adjustments that Pop and co. have made on the fly in the face of a brutal shortened season has been nothing short of amazing.

[Ballings7]

Great, great win - really got after it

Adn yeah, that pass from Manu to Bonner was unreal - credit to Splitter for hustling too