Lakers vs. Spurs in 2008 NBA Western Conference Finals - Game 1

Published by lakers-fan.com on May 22nd, 2008 | Tagged lakers vs spurs

When you think of the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, you usually think of the amazing .4 second buzzer shot made by Derek Fisher to win the pivotal game 4 of the 2003-04 Western Conference Finals. Last night’s win was just shy of that miracle. The Los Angeles Lakers came off a 6 game close out with the Utah Jazz and had a few more days off than San Antonio. This may have contributed to the rusty first half that the Lakers had. Kobe Bryant was just 0-1 in the first quarter and 1-3 in the entire first half, while Lamar Odom came out looking like he had taken three hits from the bong right before coming onto the court. If it were not for a few shots made by Vladimir Radmanovic and some lay ups made by Pau Gasol, The Lakers would have been a lot worse off.

The Spurs came out in the second half firing. By mid third quarter, The Spurs reached their highest lead of 20, while the Lakers began to look like they had given up on the game. Tim Duncan was making a fool of Gasol on the offensive end and when Phil Jackson tried to put Rony Turiaf up for the task to guard the big man, well lets not be silly. I recommend Pau to hit the weights this week so he can try to keep Tim Duncan from getting the ball inside six inches from the rim every time. After a while, Phil Jackson had enough of Odom’s antics and put him on the bench for the remainder of the third quarter.

Lakers began to fight back towards the end of the third by scoring 14 straight points and Kobe finally started showing why he deserves the “MVP” title. However, it seemed that just as the Lakers were getting close, the Spurs would fight back. It was not until two big free throws made by Kobe with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter that the Lakers finally took the lead. The Spurs couldn’t buy a bucket in the fourth quarter and was crushed when their 20 point lead in the third quarter ended with 4 point loss for Game 1. Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich afterwards said this loss “hurt like hell.” As pointed out in the beginning, this loss could be as big as a momentum killer for the Spurs as the .4 second Fisher shot back in 2004.

Although yesterday was a big win for the Lakers, it was a must win. In order to beat the defending champs best of 7, they won’t be able to rely on the shutdown of the Spurs offense like what happened last night. First, Odom needs to lay off the reefers and get his head back in the game. They need him more in this series than any other, especially to help on defense with Duncan. Second, they need to stop Tony Parker’s easy lay ups. In the first half, Parker was able to create several opportunities by penetrating in. Last, Kobe needs to show up earlier. He can’t be the leader of his team with 3 shots in the whole first half. I understand his desire to save his energy and get his teammates involved, but he needs to be the go-to guy throughout the entire game. Game 2 on Friday will be bigger than the first as the Lakers will try to hold serve at home. Lets see if we can keep our composure and hopefully Sasha doesn’t blow it.

- Chris Marquis