Los Angeles Lakers to take on San Antonio Spurs Friday night in final match of season series – NBA Preview
The Los Angeles Lakers travel to Texas to take on the San Antonio Spurs Friday night, in a contest anticipated to show which team has the advantage going into the Playoffs. Both teams have been on an amazing roll as of recently, and seem to be unstoppable.
The San Antonio Spurs have only lost 2 of their last 18 games, but one of the two losses was against the Lakers. The Lakers on the other hand, have lost 3 of their last 12 games.
San Antonio are currently at the top of the Western Conference and hope to solidify their lead over 2nd placed Oklahoma City Thunder with a win Friday night, and ensure home court advantage through to the NBA finals.
These two teams have played each other twice this season, and both games were played in the last 10 days. The Lakers first travelled to San Antonio on April 11th, and won 98-84. Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace took charge of the offense in the
game as Kobe Bryant sat out due to a shin injury. Gasol had 21 points and 11 rebounds while World Peace had 26 points for the night. Andrew Bynum ruled the paint in that game, grabbing a season high 30 rebounds to go with his 16 points.
The Lakers out-rebounded the Spurs 60-33 and won the game owing to that difference. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili failed to make any significant impact in that game, as they scored a combined 13 points. Tim Duncan had 14 points and Danny Green scored a team
high 22 points as the Spurs did not look like the team that had won 11 of their last 12 games before that one.
The Spurs then travelled to Los Angeles on April 17th and got some revenge as they defeated the Lakers 112-91. Kobe missed the game again and the Spurs had 5 players in double figures, including Tony Parker with a game high 29 points and 13 assists.
Tim Duncan added 19 points and 8 rebounds.
The Spurs shot an astounding 59.5% from the field and 38.9% from the distance. The Lakers were only 2 of 10 from beyond the arc as they failed to match up with the scoring pace of the Spurs. Andrew Bynum has 21 points and Pau Gasol added 16 for the Lakers.
The Lakers turned the ball over 19 times in that game as compared to 12 for the Spurs.
Kobe Bryant will be back on Friday night against the Spurs. He holds the key to outscoring the Spurs, but will need a good effort from Gasol and Bynum on the defensive end. The Lakers are one of the best defensive teams in the league but they allowed the
Spurs 112 points in their last game, something which they cannot let happen again.
For the Spurs, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan hold the key. The Spurs main area of concern is their centre. Although Duncan does a good job of boxing and rebounding, the big men of the Spurs will have to step up if they have any chance of holding down Andrew
Bynum.
The fixture will be a tough one and will have psychological repercussions on both teams as they head into the playoffs.
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