Winning on the road is proving to be the most troublesome task this postseason. The Boston Celtics can attest. Coming into the playoffs, the Celtics were pinned as a favorite for the championship. Fast-forward one month and the Celtics, who have yet to win a game on the road, are beginning to look like the underdog in Eastern Conference finals.
Taking a look at the Western Conference finals, the importance of the road is just as present. The Lakers and the Spurs both closed out their semi-final series' on the road. The route for the Lakers may have been a tad easier with it being in game six, but facing the unruly crowd in Utah, the sentiment is the same as San Antonio's game seven win in New Orleans.
There's no doubt that the majority of Lakers fans would have preferred to see New Orleans for the simple reason that they aren't the Spurs, but the schedule is set, and there's no question that it's going to be an all-out war. This series is a battle of the two most fit teams in West, and regardless of the turnout, it's going to be a fun one to watch. This is the series that brought us 0.4 seconds; one of the greatest shots in Lakers' history. Need I say more?
Their last postseason meeting was in 2004 where the Lakers knocked off the Spurs in six games, cruising to a 12 point lead at home one game after Derek Fisher's heroics in game five. The Spurs were the defending champs then, and they're the defending champs now. Will history repeat?
Foremost, I have some news on the Lakers injury beat: 1. The Lakers announced today that center Andrew Bynum will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this week. The procedure is scheduled for Wednesday in New York and involves
cleaning some rough spots and fraying on the underside of his kneecap.
It will be performed by Dr. David Altchek. [LA Times]
2. As we know, Trevor Ariza was cleared for full contact last week. Rumors swirled that he was going to suit up for game six in Utah, but that didn't end up happening. He had full involvement in practice yesterday, and according to KLAC AM 570's David Vassegh, he finished off the scrimmage with a reverse dunk. He should be suited up for game one. I would expect either Ira Newble or Chris Mihm to be moved to the inactive list.
3. Kobe has said that his back is 100% with "no lingering effects from the back spasms that plagued him a week ago." [LA Times]
Time for the fun stuff:
The Season series between the Lakers and Spurs is tied 2-2 with both teams protecting their home floor. Since I've made the "post-Gasol acquisition era" a bit of a trend, I'll add that the post-Gasol acquisition era Lakers have faced the Spurs once. You might remember that 21 point win near the end of the season where Kobe dropped 20, Lamar dropped 17 and 14, and Pau dropped 14 and 11.
In the regular season, the Lakers scored 108.6 points per game and allowed 101.3 points per game with an offensive rating at 3rd of 30 and a defensive rating at 5th of 30. The Spurs scored 95.4 points per game and allowed 90.6 points per game with an offensive rating at 15st of 30 and a defensive rating at 13th of 30.
Series Schedule: Game One Wednesday - 5/21 Spurs @ Lakers 6:00pm - TNT Marv Albert and Doug Collins
Game Two Friday - 5/23 Spurs @ Lakers 6:00pm - TNT Marv Albert and Doug Collins
Game Three Sunday - 5/25 Lakers @ Spurs 5:30pm - TNT Marv Albert and Doug Collins
Game Four Tuesday - 5/27 Lakers @ Spurs 6:00pm - TNT Marv Albert and Doug Collins
*Game Five Thursday - 5/29 Spurs @ Lakers 6:00pm - TNT Marv Albert and Doug Collins
*Game Six Saturday - 5/31 Lakers @ Spurs 6:00 - TNT Marv Albert and Doug Collins
*Game Seven Monday - 6/2 Spurs @ Lakers 6:00pm - TNT Marv Albert and Doug Collins
Starting Matchups: (Playoff Averages) Point Guard (LAL) Derek Fisher - 6-1, 205 - 11.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.7 APG (SAS) Tony Parker - 6-2, 180 - 23.6 PPG. 3.5 RPG, 6.2 APG
Shooting Guard (LAL) Kobe Bryant - 6-6, 220 - 33.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 6.8 APG (SAS) Michael Finley - 6-7, 225 - 7 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.1 APG
Small Forward (LAL) Vladimir Radmanovic - 6-10, 234 - 8.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.7 APG (SAS) Bruce Bowen - 6-7, 200 - 5.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.5 APG
Power Forward (LAL) Lamar Odom - 6-10, 230 - 15.6 PPG, 10.67RPG, 3.1 APG (SAS) Tim Duncan - 6-11, 260 - 19.3 PPG, 13.3 RPG, 2.6 APG
Center (LAL) Pau Gasol - 7-0, 260 - 20 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 4.5 APG (SAS) Fabricio Oberto - 6-10, 245 - 3.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.3 APG
All-Time Series Facts - regular season(from game notes):
Lakers vs. San Antonio in Postseason (from game notes): The Lakers and Spurs have met 10 times in the postseason (1982, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004) with Los Angeles advancing on seven occasions, most recently 4-2 in the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals after falling behind in that series 0-2. The teams have twice met in the First Round (2-0), five times in the Conference Semifinals (2-3) and three times in the Conference Finals (1982,1983 and 2001,3-0). The Lakers 47 playoff games against the Spurs are the fourth highest total against a single team in the postseason for Los Angeles, trailing only Boston (57), Phoenix (51) and Portland (48). The Lakers are 17-8 against the Spurs at home, 13-9 when visiting San Antonio and 30-17 overall against the Spurs in the postseason.
Staples Center Advantage (from game notes): Since
moving to STAPLES Center prior to the 1999-2000 season, the Lakers have
won 82% of their postseason games (48-10). The Lakers have topped the
century mark in half of their postseason home games at STAPLES Center
(31-of-58) while the opposition has been held under 100 points in all
but 16 of those games. In their last 21 home playoff games, the Lakers
are 18-3.
God I remember 0.4 like it was yesterday. Great series and goodtimes then. Nice post by the way. I see the Lakers taking this in 6. Ariza back only adds to the Spurs trouble of stopping these young and hungry Lakers.
Lamar and Gasol need to show up big and out-pair Duncan and Oberto. The two of them can destroy those two, making this a joke series....or they can fold up in the moment (VERY POSSIBLE) and make this a joke series.
That Parker - Fisher matchup is the doosey for the Lakers. how will they help out? Should it be Sasha, or even Kobe on him? This is the Lakers weakest link...but if Fisher can contribute a good 15 points a game, that helps nullify it.
Man.... if (IF) Lamar and Gasol show up, and the Parker Fisher matchup isn't a joke, this series could be over quick. But the Spurs have that mojo thing they have....so who knows. The Lakers need to push fast and play good defense.
Thanks for putting Ronny front and center, I love that guy!
...The thing I noticed was San Antonio had Hedo Turkoglu...imagine if they still did....and Luis Scola...scary.
Whatever.
"One lucky shot deserves another"
The look on the faces of the Spurs is classic...immediately following their wild celebration too. (he-he)
Too bad Karl Malone pulled up lame in the finals,
I still remember his ripped jersey, dude was a beast.
Good stuff tim, thanks.
The NBA playoffs,
Where 0.4 happens.
LAKERS IN JUNE.
Last edited by BleedPRPL&GLD on May 21st at 8:40 AM.
Excellent baseline blog for what will likely be a fun West finals.
In picking a winner, it has not escaped my attention that many/most of my predictions have been incorrect.
It has been suggested that my avatar may be having a supernatural (opposite) effect on my NBA predictions. I'll post a blog on this later today, but short answer - Spurs in 7...
I'm a realistic observer of the vast world that surrounds the Los Angeles Lakers. You can thank Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, Cedric Ceballos, and Vlade Divac for making that possible. The greatest person of all time is Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn. There's no getting around that. Me? I'm eighteen years old and working my way to a journalism degree.
