Spurs, Lakers Preview

If we beat the Nets tonight, I have a really bad feeling for the rematch with the Lakers. First, the Lakers are going to want revenge. The Lakers probably played their best game of the year against the Spurs and still lost.

I was upset with all of the excuses ESPN came up with for the Lakers after the game. They claimed that the Lakers should feel great about the game because they nearly won with an injured bench on the backend of a back to back. First, the fact that their bench was injured helped the Lakers. It forced them to play their starters playoff minutes. Kobe only sat out for 6 minutes the entire game. So if Walton was in there, the Lakers would have won? Would you bet your life on that? Absolutely not. And although it was their second game in two nights, they were not fatigued at all. The Lakers were pushing it until the very end. I was there and kept telling myself, eventually they will run out of gas. That never happened. You cannot tell me that the Lakers could have played better. They shot 56% from the field and 56% from the three point line with only 11 turnovers. Gasol and Bynum were on fire and Fisher could not miss from three point land. Even some guy named Josh Powell could not miss. And Kobe was Kobe in the fourth. Hitting big shots, playing great defense, and keeping his team’s concentration peaked. And the Lakers still could not get the W.

Back to Sunday’s game, it really feels like one of those games where the Spurs forget to show up in the first quarter and Pop accepts the loss before halftime. The Lakers will be looking for revenge. The Spurs will be looking ahead to this brutal stretch of games coming up. (I have the Spurs going 8-7 over the next 15.) And the game is at 2:30pm. The Spurs never play well in these early afternoon games. I guess it takes a while for our old guys to wake up.

Plus, if the Spurs lose, it will give Pop an excuse to berate the team to get them ready for the rodeo road trip. I know he just did this, but I think it was a little early. He needs to yell at them one more time before the rodeo road trip begins.

Don’t get me wrong here. Nothing would make me happier than the Spurs beating the Lakers in LA. I just have a bad feeling about this one, and my bad feelings are normally spot on.