Spurs-Lakers Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Apr 17 2012 2:42AM

The Los Angeles Lakers surprisingly haven't missed a beat with Kobe Bryant sidelined. The Western Conference-leading San Antonio Spurs know first-hand just how formidable Los Angeles can be even without its 14-time All-Star.

With Bryant expected to miss his sixth straight game Tuesday night, the Lakers try for a fourth consecutive win over the visiting Spurs and a fifth straight victory overall as these first-place teams square off for the second time in seven days.

Since falling 125-105 at Phoenix on April 7, Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles (39-22) has won four in a row - including Wednesday's 98-84 victory at San Antonio (43-16). Metta World Peace posted a season-high 26 points in that game while Andrew Bynum added 16 to go along with a career-high 30 rebounds.

"They played great and beat us to death," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "There's nothing else you can say about it."

Bynum also came up big during Sunday's 112-108 overtime win over Dallas, finishing with 23 points and 16 boards. Pau Gasol added 20 and 10, respectively, while Ramon Sessions scored 22.

"Metta, Andrew, myself, we all feel we have to step up in Kobe's absence," said Gasol, who's averaging 22.0 points in his last five games - well above his season mark of 17.4. "A different guy can do it every game."

While the NBA's leading scorer hasn't been able to suit up due to a bruised left shin, it's safe to say Bryant (28.1 points per game) has made his presence felt from the sidelines. Bryant has been seen drawing up plays for his teammates during timeouts and encouraging them throughout the game.

"That's Coach Bryant now. He's like a coach over there," Sessions said. "He's over there helping everybody out and drawing stuff up on the board. He's pulling for us over on the side and he's helping us out tremendously."

The Lakers have outscored the Spurs by an average of 13.0 points during their three-game winning streak in the series. Los Angeles hasn't taken four straight from San Antonio since a six-game run Nov. 13, 1997-Feb. 19, 1999.

The Spurs posted their 14th win in 16 games and - combined with Oklahoma City's 92-77 loss to the Clippers - moved percentage points ahead of the Thunder for the top spot in the West with Monday's 120-99 rout at Golden State.

San Antonio shot just 39.1 percent from the field but outrebounded the Warriors 55-47. The Spurs are 24-3 when pulling down at least 44 boards.

Popovich's team figures to be relatively fresh for the second leg of its current back-to-back-to-back stretch, as Tim Duncan played just over 11 minutes Monday and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both played less than 15.

"We understood the situation, we got the comfortable lead and Pop made the call," Duncan said. "It was the right call. Our main focus is to be healthy and have our legs."

"We're in the run for it. We're going to do our best to try to win the West but it's not going to break our hearts if we don't. We want to be healthy more than anything."

Duncan scored 14 points last Wednesday, but is averaging just 6.5 points and 5.3 rebounds, and shooting 30.0 percent in his last four matchups with the Lakers.

The Spurs visit Sacramento on Wednesday before concluding their season series with the Lakers two nights later at the AT&T Center.

Spurs rout Lakers, improve spot atop West

By GREG BEACHAM
Posted Apr 18 2012 2:10AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) While last week's blowout loss to the Lakers still stings the San Antonio Spurs, they found a way to feel better while moving into prime position to win the West.

Tony Parker had 29 points and 13 assists, Tim Duncan had 19 points and eight rebounds, and the Spurs handed Los Angeles its worst loss of the season, 112-91 on Tuesday night.

Just six days after the Kobe Bryant-less Lakers jumped to a 26-point lead during a comfortable victory at San Antonio, the Spurs answered by scoring 18 consecutive points during an impressive second-quarter spree. The Spurs snapped Los Angeles' four-game winning streak while dominating a meeting of division leaders - albeit with Bryant sitting out his sixth straight game to rest his bruised shin.

"It went just as well for us as it went for them in San Antonio," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "The Lakers had the kind of night we had back home when they destroyed us. So we had a good night, and we still caught a break: I looked hard, but I didn't see Kobe anywhere. I think that helped us a little bit."

Manu Ginobili scored 15 points as the Spurs (44-16) improved their position atop the Western Conference with their fourth straight win, moving a half-game clear of Oklahoma City (44-17) for the No. 1 playoff seed. Popovich didn't sit his stars in the second game of a three-in-three-nights stretch, with Duncan playing 35 minutes and Parker 30.

"After the last meeting, this game had a little more to it," Duncan said. "We love our position (in the West), obviously. We hope to hold on to it. We're facing a tough schedule, but we're feeling good, and we're staying healthy."

San Antonio, which had lost three straight to the Lakers, stretched its lead to 23 points in the third quarter - making 30 of 43 shots in the middle quarters - and hung on comfortably for its 15th win in 17 games. Parker particularly decimated Los Angeles' defense, going 14 of 20 against point guards Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake.

"I think it was very motivated," Parker said. "We weren't happy with our performance (last week), and we wanted to get it back from them. Everybody knew it. Pop didn't bring it up and we didn't talk about it. Personally, I think it was one of my worst games, so I wanted to do better."

The two perennial West powers will meet yet again for a rubber match Friday in San Antonio.

Andrew Bynum had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Lakers, whose Pacific Division lead over the Clippers dwindled to a half-game, although the Lakers hold the tiebreaker. Matt Barnes and Pau Gasol scored 16 points apiece, but with Bryant watching from the bench in a sharp suit, Los Angeles couldn't match the depth of the Spurs, who got at least four points from 10 players.

"We've been doing pretty well with and without (Bryant)," Gasol said. "We just had a bad stretch at the end of the second quarter, and we paid a huge price."

Bryant's absence had inspired strong performances from the Lakers over the past week, but the Spurs had little trouble with Los Angeles' reconfigured lineup. San Antonio took control with a 24-4 run in the second quarter, blowing open a tight game with opportunistic defense and relentless fast breaks.

Six players scored during the 18-0 portion of the run, with Danny Green hitting consecutive 3-pointers along the way. The Lakers committed seven turnovers in the second quarter, while the Spurs made 17 of 24 shots to take a 63-47 halftime lead.

"The tempo was in their favor," Lakers coach Mike Brown said. "They sped us up, and we did not look like we had - nor did we try - to get control of the game. We got out of character a bit of the way we've been playing lately. You have to give the Spurs credit."

Although Bryant says he would be healthy enough to play if the Lakers were in the playoffs now, Brown said Bryant is unlikely to play Wednesday at Golden State. The NBA scoring leader already has played through several lesser injuries this season, and Brown seems content to allow Bryant to heal for the postseason, even if his absence costs the Lakers a spot in playoff seeding.

Popovich agreed with his former assistant's strategy, saying he would choose health over playoff position. Popovich has rested his veteran core down the stretch, but everybody was active against the Lakers - and everybody contributed to a blowout win.

NOTES: The Spurs have 19 road wins, matching Oklahoma City for the most in the West. Chicago leads the NBA with 22. ... Devin Ebanks had nine points in his 10th start of the season for Los Angeles, his sixth straight in Bryant's place. The second-year pro has played in just 20 games this season. ... Fans near courtside included Denzel Washington, Charlize Theron, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, Salma Hayek, Kat Dennings and former Angels 3B Doug DeCinces.

Notebook: Spurs 112, Lakers 91

Posted Wednesday April 18, 2012 1:51AM

By Dan Arritt, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Spurs needed to make a statement after their lackluster effort last week against the visiting Lakers, or just make amends to each other. They did both, matching the Lakers shot for shot until midway through the second quarter, when they sprinted away behind the golden touch of point guard Tony Parker and cruised to a 112-91 victory at Staples Center.

THE STAT: The Spurs shot 59.5 percent from the floor (50-for-84) while handing the Lakers their biggest margin of defeat this season. The No. 1 team in the Western Conference was especially hot in the second and third quarters, shooting 30-for-43 for a whopping 69.7 percent. With the victory, the Spurs are guaranteed to finish no worse than second in the West.

THE QUOTE: "It went as well for us as it did for them in San Antonio when they destroyed us."
-- San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich

TURNING POINT: Everything indicated it would be a back-and forth affair after Matt Barnes scored in transition to give the Lakers a 41-39 lead with 5:41 remaining in the second quarter. Then everything went south for the Lakers. They committed five turnovers and missed two shots over the next 3 ½ minutes, and San Antonio sped off on an 18-0 run to go up by 16, a margin they held at the half. The Spurs ended up making 11 consecutive field-goal attempts before Parker had a rare miss with four seconds left in the second quarter.

HOT: Parker was obviously looking for redemption after shooting 2-for-12 and scoring four points in the 98-84 loss last week against the visiting Lakers. He picked apart L.A. for 29 points on 14-for-20 shooting from the field, his highest-scoring game against the Lakers since the 2004 Western Conference semifinals. His only blemish was seven turnovers, which matched his season high. Tim Duncan also stepped up and scored 19 points on 9-for-14 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.

NOT: As the Lakers have grown more proficient at scoring the basketball, they've forgotten how to play defense. The five highest-scoring games by their opponents in regulation have come this month.

GOOD MOVE: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich put his team in great shape to sweep their second back-to-back-to-back stretch of the season. He limited Parker to just 15 minutes, Tim Duncan to 11 and the rest of the starters to less than 20 minutes in a 120-99 victory Monday night at Golden State. The Spurs looked much fresher than the Lakers, who played Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Ramon Sessions for 44 minutes Sunday afternoon in a 112-108 overtime victory against the visiting Mavericks. Now they just have to win at Sacramento on Wednesday to sweep their second trifecta.

BAD MOVE: During the decisive second-quarter run, Lakers coach Mike Brown elected to keep Steve Blake on the floor after Metta World Peace received his third foul with 8:11 remaining in the first half. Blake had no chance of guarding Parker in transition and wasn't offering anything on the offensive end, missing four of his five field-goal attempts in the second quarter.

QUOTE II: "The way they closed that second quarter helped them get the necessary lead to go ahead and put the game away."
-- Lakers coach Mike Brown

NOTABLE: After Bynum grabbed a career-high 30 rebounds in last week's victory, Popovich decided to start 6-foot-11 power forward Thiago Splitter over 6-foot-7 DeJuan Blair, giving the Spurs an extra four inches to help with Bynum, who finished with 21 points and seven rebounds. It was the seventh career start for Splitter and the first this season. It was also the first time he started alongside Duncan. Blair, by the way, did not appear in the game ... Lakers coach Mike Brown said he doesn't expect Kobe Bryant to play in Wednesday's game at Golden State. Bryant, the league's leading scorer has missed his sixth consecutive game with a bruised left shin.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Wednesday @ Golden State, Friday @ San Antonio, Sunday vs. Oklahoma City. For the Spurs, Wednesday @ Sacramento, Friday vs. L.A. Lakers, Sunday vs. Cleveland.

• Spurs: Joseph
• Lakers: Eyenga

• Spurs: --
• Lakers: --

• Lead Changes: 11
• Times Tied: 10

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #49 Tom Washington, #71 Rodney Mott, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 18997
• Duration: 2:10