Spurs of the Moment

On the one hand, it’s hard to get too excited about beating a Lakers team playing without Pau Gasol and only 3/4 of Kobe. On the other hand, it’s always nice to pummel the Lakers, even if it means kicking them while they’re down. The Spurs dismantled the remnants of the reigning champs 105-85 in San Antonio making them 11-10 against Western Conference foes. It was also nice to beat a team that is above .500 for a change. That makes the Spurs 5-11 in that category. For once, the Spurs committed fewer turnovers than their opponents – only 10 to LA’s 14. The Spurs shot 57.3% from the field, but were a horrific 4-of-11 from the free throw line. Good thing this game wasn’t closer. The Spurs are now 1.5 games behind Dallas in the Southwest Division and five games behind the Lakers.

I have one gripe, however, and that is that DeJuan Blair played all of seven minutes, went 1-of-2 from the field and grabbed two rebounds. He never turned the ball over or picked up a foul so I don’t know why he couldn’t get more playing time in this game. Meanwhile, they played Tim Duncan for 40 minutes. I know it’s the Lakers, but they gotta give Tim some rest and Blair some reps when there’s a 22 point cushion.

Highlights

[youtube 9uChkLJrMBU]

Spurs Notable Stat Lines
Tim Duncan: 25 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks. He played more minutes than I’d like to see, but a good game still. Loving the blocks.
Tony Parker: 22 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, and only 2 turnovers for a change.
George Hill: 13 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals. He hasn’t had a really good game in a minute, so it was nice to see he still had a pulse.
Richard Jefferson: 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal. RJ had another one of his 34-minutes-of-not-doing-a-whole-hell-of-a-lot games. Then again, his defense wasn’t too shabby.
Manu Ginobili: 9 points, 6 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal. Not a whole lot but I like the assists.

Lakers Notable Stat Lines
Kobe Bryant: 16 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound. Of course he didn’t play the whole game due to back spasms.
Andrew Bynum: 23 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks. Nice game for Bynum, although I am surprised he didn’t get a double-double.
Lamar Odom: 10 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks. An all around good game for Mr. Kardashian – at least from a fantasy basketball perspective.
Ron Artest: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal. Nice game except for him shooting 3-of-12 from the field.