Making bad teams look bad is one thing.
Making good teams look bad? That’s entirely something else, but it’s exactly what the Lakers did Sunday, blowing past Tim Duncan and the Spurs in the second half and cruising to a 99-85 win in STAPLES Center (recap | box score | photos | video).
The Spurs (29-14) are considered by many to be the Lakers biggest obstacle to returning to the NBA Finals, and the teams have a bit of a rivalry going which made Sunday’s win even sweeter:
"There's a lot of history," Bryant said. "They've always been a measuring stick for us. The West is tough. (The Lakers and Spurs) have to be the top two teams until somebody else proves otherwise.
"The Spurs have great players, great coaching. It's a class organization."
Kobe scored a game-high 22 points in just 32 minutes and didn’t play in the 4th. And he played suffocating defense on Spurs dynamo Manu Ginobili, who finished with just 9 points on 4-for-11 from the field.
Andrew Bynum posted his third consecutive double-double, going for 15 points and 11 rebounds while battling Duncan in the paint. Pau Gasol chipped in 16 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Trevor Ariza came off the bench and tied his season high with 17 big points.
The game also marked the return of PG Jordan Farmar, who had been sidelined for 17 games with a knee injury. The second-year player from UCLA responded with 14 points in 17 minutes. But his quickness and ability to change pace is what really changed the game.
Kobe:
“We missed him a lot. He makes our second unit go, he’s the motor. Now that he’s back, everybody falls into their natural positions and we are back clicking on all cylinders.”
Head coach Phil Jackson echoed KB’s sentiments:
“A lot. Big,” coach Phil Jackson replied when asked how important Farmar’s return was to the Lakers. “It helps us a lot. Jordan obviously has attributes— the speed and the quickness. Those are things that we missed, that tempo change in our game.”
Now that the Lakers are at full strength, you’d expect coach Jackson to point out areas in which the team can improve. But he gave this unexpected answer when asked if he has any specific concerns about the team at this point in the season:
"You know, now that it looks like our bench is coming back and we'll have a full retinue of players, I really don't," the Lakers' coach said.
"At one time, it looked like heavy minutes were going to be a concern. . . . Now that our bench is coming back, it looks like we can monitor the minutes of Fisher and Kobe, some of our heavy-minute guys. We'll be fine."
Quote of the game:
"We just tried to make his life a little difficult. In San Antonio he got away from us a little bit, got hot, and tonight we had to focus on him a little bit more.'" – Kobe, commenting on his defense of Spurs guard Manu Ginobili.
What the enemy is saying:
"It's a hell of a team and it's going to be a hell of a team for a long time. They're young, athletic, long, deep, inside game, outside game. It's a hell of a squad."
– San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.
KB24.com fan comment of the game:
“The Lakers did a masterful job. I love how the team played great ball and took the game completely out the hands of the refs. Happy to see Jordan back…his pleas to Phil must have worked. Lamar was amazing. Trevor was great. Kobe was everything. Fish had a nice game. It's just good to see the team BACK!!!!”
– ‘LobeJean’ in the Lakers Game Talk Forum.
Photo of the game:
Kobe turns the corner and goes baseline against San Antonio’s Matt Bonner. (Getty Images)
Power rankings:
Well, well, well. 43 games into the regular season, and NBA experts say the Lakers and Celtics are still the top two teams in the Association. Check the Power Rankings below:
ESPN: Lakers No. 2
USAToday: Lakers No. 1
NBA.com: Lakers No. 2
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