The NBA regular season is tedious enough to put even the most ardent basketball fan to sleep, but there are a few matchups that will perk those ears up real fast — and the Lakers/Spurs is one of them.
The two teams didn’t disappoint tonight. It looked like the Spurs were going to win this one in a walk — they were up 100-89 with 8:05 to play, but the Lakers fought back behind Kobe Bryant (29p, 10r, 7a) and Josh Powell, who hit three clutch shots as part of a 11-2 run. With Pau Gasol guarding him (and Andrew Bynum sent to the bench) Tim Duncan (20p, 10r, 8a) made a pair of shots to give the Spurs a 109-108 lead with 0:28 to play.
Sixteen seconds later, Kobe made a clutch three-pointer to give the Lakers a two point lead. He even did the Sam Cassell “big balls” dance as the teams went to a timeout…
But Kobe celebrated too early. On the Spurs’ next possession, Roger Mason hit a clutch two-pointer from the corner and was fouled awkwardly from behind by Derek Fisher. He hit the free throw to give the Spurs a one-point lead. The Spurs double-teamed Kobe on the next play and he gave the ball up to Trevor Ariza near the top of the key. Ariza drove and there was some (no-call) contact with Ginobili, and he was called for traveling. It wasn’t a travel, but the shot didn’t fall and the game was over anyway.
(Catch the highlights here.)
It was a nice comeback, but their vulnerability at small forward continues to plague the Lakers. Ariza is a good player, but right now he doesn’t seem comfortable making a play in the clutch. Smart teams are going to double Kobe to get the ball out of his hands. Unless you can force him into a difficult, deep trey, you’re better off taking your chances with Ariza, Luke Walton, Lamar Odom or whoever else is out there. I know I wouldn’t want to take the game-winner knowing that Kobe will be there bitching me out if I happen to miss.
As for the Spurs, they have to be feeling good about two of their offseason acquisitions — Roger Mason and George Hill. Mason has been clutch all season and he did a pretty nice job making life (somewhat) difficult for Kobe with little or no help. For a rookie, Hill looks confident and is a very capable backup for Tony Parker, who looked oddly out of sorts when the Lakers made their run.
It was a great game. The Lakers are still the class of the West, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this was a preview of the Conference Finals.
Good God, I was screaming so much during the final couple of minutes.
That Tim Duncan floater at the end was a stroke of luck.
Also, how do you call a foul on Fisher and not call one when Ariza was driving in the final seconds? I saw the same amount of contact. No question, Spurs got lucky on this one. Obviously, there was no travel, but if Mason was fouled, so was Ariza.
No way can you call a travel that late in the game, anyway.
Just made me angry. As far as the small forward situation goes, it looks like Ariza is more comfortable playing the shooting guard. Lakers have such a tall line that I could see how confusion sets in. If Radmonovich were just more aggressive and Bynum was really, I mean, really 100%, the Lakers would be unstoppable. This team is just so unfamiliar with each other. They’ll get the hang of it, hopefully. Just those god damn Spurs. I can’t stand them.
The two calls were very different. Mason was in the act of shooting and Fisher bumped him from behind. Ariza drove to the hole (and didn’t look confident doing it — refs can see that) and the contact sort of happened on the drive. Van Gundy thought it should have been a no call (on the foul). I agree with him that it wasn’t a travel after seeing the replay, but the drive was so awkward and drawn out that it looked like a walk in real time.
I don’t agree with you when you say you can’t call a travel that late in the game. A travel is a travel — I don’t think that players should get to take an extra step in crunch time because it gives them an extra advantage that they didn’t have for 99.9% of the game.
If I’m a Laker fan (and I’m not), I really don’t want to see a healthy Spurs team in the playoffs. LA has as much talent as anyone in the league, but I don’t have confidence that they can win several games in the clutch given the way that talent plays together. Still, it’s early. They have plenty of time to work things out.