The San Antonio Spurs have proven time and time again not to doubt their heart, which they showed still had plenty left in Game 3's rout of the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
Now the Spurs need a similar effort in tonight's Game 4 to send the series back to L.A. all even at 2 and make it a best of 3 series; San Antonio is a 4-point betting favorite tonight on WagerWeb.com, with an over/under of 192.
A big part of San Antonio's Game 3 success was in stopping Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher, slowing Pau Gasol and keeping Kobe Bryant off the free-throw line (again).
Odom went 2-of-11 from the field and finished with seven points on Sunday, Fisher scored just two points on 1-of-4 shooting, and Kobe was sent to the free-throw line only once in Game 3 and missed that one (he has shot only six free throws in the three games).
That is a far cry from the physical Western Conference semifinals against Utah in which Bryant averaged 16 free throws a game.
"It's something we try to do," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said of limiting Bryant's access to the line. "Sometimes, you just can't, but if you give Kobe -- besides all those shots that he takes -- 20 free-throw opportunities, then it becomes really difficult."
The Spurs are attempting to do to Bryant what they did to the Hornets' Chris Paul: Let the superstar get his and make the supporting cast beat you.Bryant is averaging 26.3 points in the series so far, which is seven below what he had been netting in the playoffs before the conference finals."He's going to get his numbers regardless," said Bruce Bowen, who
generally guards Bryant. "You want to make sure you do your best as far as paying attention to their 3-point shooters and not allowing easy baskets for their other guys."
Odom's Game 3 struggles were magnified because Pau Gasol made only seven of 18 shots on the way to 15 points. Gasol and Odom each missed four layups and were outrebounded by Tim Duncan, 21-16.
Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker outscored Odom, Gasol and Bryant in Game 3, 72-52.
The Spurs are 7-0 at home in the playoffs. Duncan has 55 rebounds in this series; Gasol and Odom have a combined 56.
The Lakers shot nearly 43 percent (35-of-82) from the field in Game 3, but the Spurs hit 38-of-74 (51 percent), including 10 3-pointers.
Betting trends: Lakers are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog of 0.5-4.5. . Lakers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. loss. . Spurs are 17-4-2 ATS in their last 23 playoff games as a favorite. . Spurs are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 home games. . Under is 5-1 in Lakers last 6 games as a road underdog. . Under is 6-0 in Spurs last 6 overall. . Under is 8-1 in the last 9 meetings in San Antonio.
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