The Spurs flat-out blew Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, there's no other way to describe it. Having a 20-point third-quarter lead and not holding on is inexcusable, and now the team has to put the opener behind it and try to win Game 2 tonight in Los Angeles, with the Lakers 6.5-point betting favorites (over/under: 192.5) on WagerWeb.com.
The victory was the largest postseason comeback for the Lakers since they erased a 20-point deficit to defeat the Sacramento Kings in Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference finals, when Robert Horry, now a reserve with the Spurs, buried a memorable buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
"They're up 1-0. The important thing for us is to not let the game linger," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said.
San Antonio missed 15 of 20 3-pointers, and Manu Ginobili looked tired and beat up, missing 10 of 13 shots, and 4 of 6 3-pointers. Over the final 17 minutes, Ginobili scored just five points on 1-of-5 shooting while committing three turnovers.
"I have a couple issues," he said, "but nothing that bad that can justify the way I played today. I'm upset, but it's over, and now you've got to try and play better next game.
"The hand is all right. That's just a nail. My ankle is bothering me and I've got a couple of little things, but I don't want to talk about that. That's not the reason why I played so bad. I've just got to step up and play better."
The Spurs shot 3-for-21 and committed five turnovers while being outscored 24-13 in the fourth quarter. The Lakers outscored the defending NBA champions 44-20 to finish the game. Kobe Bryant had 23 of those points, including 14 in the final period, when he outscored San Antonio by himself.
Furthermore, the Spurs were 1-for-9 from 3-point range in the quarter and also committed five turnovers.
"You want to be angry about the way we played in the fourth quarter," Popovich said.
The Lakers haven't lost at Staples Center since March 28.
"We're down one game, that's all," said Tim Duncan, who had 30 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots in a losing cause. "Our goal is to get to four (wins). A lot of credit goes to them. Obviously, they played excellent. They came back at us. Kobe (Bryant) took it over."
Bryant had only four points at the midpoint of the third quarter but took over from there, finishing with 27 points. The NBA MVP went 10-of-18 in the second half, including a 10-foot jumper for an 87-85 lead with 24 seconds left. He finished with nine assists and five rebounds.
Pau Gasol scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Lakers, who have won nine of 11 in the postseason.
Lakers head coach Phil Jackson is a perfect 40-0 when his teams win the first game of a playoff series.
The Spurs are only 2-5 on the road this postseason while L.A. is 6-0 at home.
Betting trends: Spurs are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games. . Lakers are 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 games following a S.U. win. . Under is 4-0 in Spurs' last 4 overall. . Spurs are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings. . Under is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
No comments:
Post a Comment