Lakers vs Spurs: Running Riot Of Thoughts
-
This will be an open thread moving along with the tempo of the game. I will comment on the top plays of the game. Normally, you would see a live blog happening, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to set that up and am limited in availability.
As we, the Lakers, take on the San Antonio Spurs for the second time in two weeks, we look for our first win against them. After Boston destroyed the Mavs in the first game of the double header on ESPN, Kobe will try to again be “Kobe Nash” and dominate this game with shooting and passing.
This will workout perfectly fine though, you will see the main points of the game recapped, here, by me, and whoever else chooses to leave some comments!! All notes will be left in the comments portion of this post.
Tip off is set for 12:30 PM Pacific Time.
Enjoy!
Leave a Comment
January 25th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
This game has a lot of importance for Andrew Bynum. Although Duncan is listed as a forward for the All Star game, he is offensively and defensively matched up against Andrew. Bynum has had two great games against the Clippers when he scored a career high 42 and against the Wizards the next night. Let’s hope he can play just as well against a superstar in Tim Duncan.
January 25th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
With 9:27 in the 1st quarter, Roger Mason has already collected 2 fouls while trying to guard Kobe Bryant. This bring Bruce Bowen in, off the bench rarely in his career. And of course, as I say that, his first shot is an airball. Meanwhile, as the action moves down the court, Gasol does a nice job of finding Bynum underneath who makes the basket. Unfortunately, a foul was called before the shot and Kobe is forced to drop a jump shot over Matt Bonner from 20 instead.
January 25th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Bynum finally gets his first 2 points of the game taking a 10-6 lead. Van Gundy is talking about the lack of defense from Tim Duncan. “Andrew Bynum is on a roll the last three games.” Thanks Jeff! The post move was a pretty simple one and it’s nice to see that Bynum is taking advantage of those opportunities. He didn’t always know how to correctly turn, jump, and shoot to get the easy basket. The Spurs are in a bit of foul trouble now as Bonner has picked up his 2nd foul as well.
January 25th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
The Spurs took their first lead of the game at 20-19, but Trevor Ariza wouldn’t let that last long. The bench came in, including Ariza, Lamar Odom, and Sasha Vujacic, to pair up with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. The Spurs bench obviously isn’t nearly as deep. It’s really nice to have a guy like Ariza that can come in that quick and convert an easy three point play flying high over Bruce Bowen.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
The 1st quarter comes to a close with Parker leading the Spurs with 9 points while Kobe has 8 points and 3 rebounds. Surely enough, the assists will start coming as the big guys start getting a better feel for the game. Finley also has helped the Spurs, the 2nd highest 3 point shooting percentage team, as he has hit two from beyond the arc to give the Spurs a 23-22 lead. Look for the Lakers to come out aggressive in this 2nd quarter as they do what’s got to be done to build a lead going into the second half. The Spurs are a great second half team so we’ve got to build a lead early before we fall behind.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Jordan Farmar has come into the game. He look perfectly fine to me. After going down with that knee injury, having surgery, and expected to miss 8 weeks, lasting at least through the all star break, Jordan has recovered twice as fast as expected and is running and moving comfortable out there on the court. It’s great to see Jordan out there again and the Lakers team back at full strength.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
There is a simple stat line that I would like to point out. Andrew Bynum has 2 blocks in this game. Generally, in Lakers wins, Bynum has at least one block. In losses, Bynum usually has 0 blocks. I guess we have to assume that 2 blocks in the first half means the Lakers blow them out??
January 25th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
After a trip down court that included Lamar Odom launching up a random three, followed by an offensive rebound, and Radmanovic launching up a three pointer, the Spurs came down court, missed their own three, and Fisher ran the court with Bynum. Andrew established early position deep under the basket, Fisher passed it in, and Bynum came away with an easy basket. Next trip Kobe hits the three. Lakers out to a 49-41 lead. 9-0 run.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
HALFTIME
The Lakers lead 51-45. Kobe has 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Bynum has 6 points and 6 rebounds while Gasol has 9 points and 3 rebounds. Farmar has been great in his first game back making 3-4 shots with 8 points in 6 minutes.
The second half will be all about ball movement. It will be important for Kobe to find his teammates, Fisher to start making a few shots, Sasha play better defense on Roger Mason, and Bynum and Gasol dominating the paint.
January 25th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
This game seems to have gone back to what we had last time when these two teams met up. Too many wide open shots. Too many easy baskets. The Lakers have built a 12 point lead and continue to dominate from different parts of the floor. the rebounding is solid, the shooting is consistent, and the guys are rotating really well defensively avoiding giving up easy baskets (too often).
January 25th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Andrew Bynum is the theme of this game, just like I said early on. 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks have helped the Lakers take a 13 point lead going into the 4th quarter. 79-66 with 12 minutes to play. Kobe has 22 points and Gasol is up to 12 with 4 rebounds. Ariza also had a nice 3rd quarter adding up to an 11 point total for the game.
January 25th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I’d like to officially declare this game a victory for the Lakers. They are out to an 19 point lead coming off two gorgeous passes from Pau Gasol, one to Jordan and one to Lamar, followed by a nice pass from Odom to Ariza for a HUGEEEEEEE dunk. Oh yeah, all of this came with Kobe Bryant on the bench. Hopefully they can continue to build on this and make the Spurs remember what this Lakers team is truly capable of.
January 25th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
FINAL SCORE: 99-85
Great game for the Lakers as they get a nice big win over the Spurs. This win widens the gap between the 1st place Lakers and 2nd place Spurs in the Western Conference. Can you say domination?