Spurs lose Game One!!!

[JeeberD]

Spurs win 87-82. Hell yeah!!!!!

Edit: It's times like this that I really wish we could edit thread titles....
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SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- It looked like last season all over again.


Just like in the 2002 playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs let a double-digit lead over the Los Angeles Lakers dissolve to one point in the fourth quarter.


But this time the finish was different as the Spurs pulled out an 87-82 victory Monday night in the opening game of their Western Conference semifinal series.


Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal fouled out with more than three minutes to play, and San Antonio then took advantage of its size to counter Kobe Bryant's outside shooting.


O'Neal, who fouled out of a playoff game for the first time in his career, had 24 points and 21 rebounds.


A 3-pointer by Bryant brought Los Angeles within 85-82 with 1:08 left in the game.


That was the last field goal of the game, as the scoring ended with a free throw by Tony Parker after a technical foul against Robert Horry and a free throw by David Robinson with 9.9 seconds left.


Bryant led all scorers with 37 points.


Tim Duncan, who received his MVP trophy before the game, had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Spurs, while Manu Ginobili had 15 points, including two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.


Game 2 will be in San Antonio on Wednesday night.


Neither team shot well in the first half, which ended with the Spurs leading 38-35 on a buzzer-beating, 40-foot heave by 40-year-old Kevin Willis.


San Antonio extended the lead to as many as 11 points late in the third quarter when Ginobili hit his second 3-pointer of the period at 1:52.


No one in the SBC Center was surprised when the Lakers went right to O'Neal, who missed a 10-foot baseline turnaround in the opening seconds. On San Antonio's first possession, Duncan fed Robinson for a dunk. The Spurs were also predictable early, however, with Duncan scoring eight of his team's next 10 points.


At the other end, O'Neal kept getting the ball in close but Robinson bodied up on him with some success despite the 70-pound weight difference. O'Neal was 5-of-12 from the field in the first half, with all but one of his baskets coming on a dunk or layup.


Bryant struggled offensively in the half, making only six of his 19 field goal attempts.


Duncan's putback of a missed layup by Speedy Claxton gave San Antonio its largest lead of the half, 30-22 with 5:45 left.


But Bryant answered with a 3-pointer from the wing and then added a three-point play to key a Lakers rally that was capped by a putback dunk by O'Neal that tied the game at 35 with 36 seconds remaining.


Malik Rose grabbed the rebound on a missed 14-footer by Bryant with 4.1 seconds in the half and threw an outlet pass to a streaking Willis, who let go of his shot just over the midcourt line.


Game notes
Before the game, NBA commissioner David Stern formally presented Duncan with the league's MVP trophy, which he won for a second straight season. ... The Lakers didn't come out to the court until after the national anthem. ... After making 21 of his 34 3-point attempts in the Minnesota series, Derek Fisher opened against the Spurs by going 2-for-3 behind the arc. ... O'Neal was close to a double-double in the first quarter with 10 points and eight rebounds. ... Parker's only assist came at 2:35 of the third quarter on a feed to Duncan for a layup. ... Devean George of the Lakers was helped off the court early in the final period after he sprained his left ankle after getting tangled up with Ginobili under the Spurs basket. X-rays were negative.

[moriarty]

Originally posted by JeeberD
Edit: It's times like this that I really wish we could edit thread titles....

Yeah, I'm guessing your snappy thread title has limited the number of responses to your post.

I for one though am VERY happy the Spurs won game 1. I thought it was essential that they get off to a good start in this series. I still have a bad feeling, but I will be stoked if they can bump the Lakers off.

[JeeberD]

Hell yeah. I'm a Rockets and Mavs fan more than a Spurs fan, but I would love to see anyone knock off the Lakers. And if it's a team from Texas, even better...

[Franklinnoble]

Doesn't matter... Sacramento is going to win it all this year, no matter who they play.

Oh, and it's been a long time since I've seen anyone play a game as dirty as Robert Horry did last night. For that reason alone, I'm pulling for the Spurs in this series.

[bbor]

Are you drunk?

[moriarty]

I won't be convinced about the Kings until they actually beat the Lakers. I mean the Lakers have basically talked smack right in their face, and the Kings still havent' been able to bring it (if that doesn't get you motivated enough nothing will).

That said, if the Spurs knock off the Lakers, I think the Kings will have won the Championship.

edited to make the grammer less badder

[JeeberD]

Hey now, the Mavs have a chance to beat the Kings. It's a small chance, but it is a chance. The Blazers whupped up on the Mavs during the regular season, and the Mavs were (barely) able to beat them. I know the Kings are much better than the Blazers, but don't count the Mavs out quite yet...

[bbor]

Steve Nash is god

[Franklinnoble]

Don't get me wrong... I really like the Mavs... but I just don't think they can beat the Kings in a seven game series.

[TroyF]

That was an incredibly cheap play by Horry. I didn't think it was that bad at first, until the replay showed he took two swats and didn't start the second until the ball was out and the whistle had blown.

I was commish, he'd be suspended for a game after that.

I'm happy the Spurs won and think they have a chance in this series. . . but the Lakers lost the game last night because of their decisions. Kobe took 38 shots and about 35 of them were fade away jumpers. They forgot all about Shaq for a good portion of the game. This was a Shaq that was actually hitting shots, not just bullying his way in and dunking it. (note: the refs had something to do with that by actually calling offensive fouls on him)

The Lakers only chance in this series is to attack the basket at all times. It gets into a 3 point shooting contest, they'll lose this series.

BTW: I'm in agreement that if the Spurs win this series, the Kings win the NBA title. I'd give them a 50/50 shot at beating LA now that Fox is out. . . I think they have more weapons than the Spurs can handle.

TroyF

[JeeberD]

Originally posted by Franklinnoble
Don't get me wrong... I really like the Mavs... but I just don't think they can beat the Kings in a seven game series.

Well, the Mavs lost three games out of four to the Kings during the regular season. However, two of those losses were in the final seconds. The Mavs just need to improve a little bit and I think they can surprise some people.

Oh, and by the way, the local media here are all dogging on the Mavs, picking them to lose in four or five games. I think they'll do better than that. I'm not going to say that they'll win the series, but it will go at least six games...

[mckerney]

Originally posted by Franklinnoble
Oh, and it's been a long time since I've seen anyone play a game as dirty as Robert Horry did last night.

You've obviously never paid attention to how shaq plays

[MrBug708]

You've obviously never paid attention to how shaq plays

Or the way people play Shaq, or any other big man that leans against their defender

[JeeberD]

Ummm, go ahead and ignore what I said above... :o

[heybrad]

As one of the biggest Laker defenders on this board, I'll throw in my thoughts....

The Lakers have a tough mountain to climb. These are not the same Spurs that they eliminated the previous two seasons. The Spurs have much more depth.

The injury to Devean George was huge last night. Both of the Lakers SF's are now gone. This means moving Kobe to the 3. Right now, the Lakers roster is looking thinner than Kate Moss on crack.

All that said... having witnessed some amazing games from Shaq and Kobe over the past few years, I wont believe they're out until the time hits zero on their fourth loss. No lead is safe for the Spurs. If the Lakers remember to hand the ball to Shaq just about every time, they can still win this series.

[MrBug708]

Robert Horry might be able to play some SF, but we'll hafta hope Brian Shaw can make one last hurrah

[TroyF]

Hey Brad,

Bingo. Remember to throw the ball into Shaq. Kobe cannot be taking 38 shots in a game, with 30 of those being fade away jumpers. They do that, they lose.

Pound the ball inside to Shaq. See how the refs are calling the game. (no, this isn't another Laker rant) If they are letting them play, Shaq will be able to outmuscle anyone the Spurs have.

The Lakers are in trouble in both this and the next series. The Kings and Spurs both have more weapons. It all comes down to those teams 1) Not choking (see the Kings free throws in game 7 last year) 2) The officiating being even (see game 6 of the same series) and 3) Forcing Shaq and Kobe to work for EVERY shot. No gimmees.

TroyF

[daedalus]

Originally posted by mckerney
You've obviously never paid attention to how shaq plays

I don't know that Shaq is really a dirty player, he's just pretty much bigger and stronger than most.

Originally posted by TroyF
I was commish, he'd be suspended for a game after that.

You mean . . . but that would make Phil mad??! What're you? Crazy??!

Now that Phil requires it, I'd expect some wonderful touch fouls for the Lakers.

[MrBug708]

The officiating being even (see game 6 of the same series)

Or game 5

[TroyF]

I keep hearing that BS. . . Sorry, I'm not buying it. the Kings got a couple of calls that night, they didn't go to the line 20+ times in the final quarter of the game after being beat soundly all night. A couple of questionable calls went against the Lakers, not an entire quarters worth.

Game 6 ranked as the single worst officiated game I've seen in my life. . . until the Minnesota game this year.

TroyF

[heybrad]

I dont think the Minn game was as bad as Sac Game 6. I do think the calls clearly favored the Spurs in Game 1 but not to the extent of these other two games. I'm sure the Lakers will have a game where the officiating goes their way against the Spurs and I'm sure we'll hear people call for the head of David Stern when it happens.

To borrow some hyperbole from Bill Walton... the fate of Western Civilization is at stake with the refereeing in this series.

[TroyF]

HeyBrad,

The Spurs did get the benefit of some of the calls, no question. Still, the foul totals were actually pretty close. (24-20) The problem the Lakers had was that Kobe was firing up fade away jumpers, while the Spurs were driving hard to the basket. Shaq only took 20 of the teams 86 total shots. Had he taken more of them OR had Kobe drove hard to the rim more, the free throw shooting would have been A LOT closer.

TroyF

[daedalus]

Wow. Colour me shocked that the referees have had the testicular fortitude to call those offensive fouls on Shaq. He's always been able to get away that.

Oh. And everytime I see Ginobelli, I'm more impressed with him. Curse them Europeans and that "fundamental" thing.

[daedalus]

Oh, yeah . . .

And why isn't Kobe getting the calls like Tim Legler was whining for?!?!? I mean, he should be getting free throws for those fadeaway jumpshots, shouldn't he?

[TroyF]

The Lakers have the talent to shave off this 20 point deficit, BUT this is the worst I have ever seen them look. When the Spurs move the ball, they can get any shot they want. The sequence at the end of the first half was laughable.

They aren't passing the ball. They aren't making sure Shaq gets a touch everytime down the floor. They are taking horrific shots. They have 16 free throws to the Spurs 8, so Phil can't use that excuse again tonight. 5 assists with 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter? Are you kidding me?

I love the Spurs and am cheering for the Lakers to lose, but these two games haven't been about the Spurs. (although Ginobili has played sensational) This is the Lakers not playing their game and paying for it. I thought before the game started that Shaq would have 30-35 field goal attempts. He's got 14 now and many of those have been off of offensive rebounds and put backs, not through the set offense.

I'll repeat, these guys have the talent to come back. They are FAR from dead. I'll also repeat that I've never seen a Phil Jackson coached Laker team look so horrible in back to back games.

TroyF

[daedalus]

I don't think you can ever count the Lakers out of a serie until whistle blows to end the game for the 4th win. I don't think Shaquille can be stopped 1-on-1. Probably not 1-on-2, either. In the second quarter, when the referee showed that they wouldn't let him just run over people, he showed a lot of the post skills he has but rarely use lately. Problem is they - well, Kobe - seems to forget him for stretches of time.

The other thing that amazes me is the fact that the Lakers perimeter people seems to have a tremendous lack of clue with regards to post play. When Shaq does the proper thing and kick the ball back out, all they have to do is hold the ball for one second and the double guy would have to leave. All they have to do is kick it back in and he'd have a 1-on-1 situation. But why do that when Derek Fisher can shoot a 20-footer, huh?

[JeeberD]

Originally posted by daedalus
Oh. And everytime I see Ginobelli, I'm more impressed with him. Curse them Europeans and that "fundamental" thing.

Isn't he from Argentina?

I don't think that's Europe...

[daedalus]

He is? Upes. I just heard the part about him playing in Italy the last two years. [I STILL have no idea what the point of that "anecdote" Fratello was rambling on about was.] My bad.