The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 121-97, on Friday night to maintain their position as the top team in the Western Conference.
The Spurs were led by Tim Duncan who scored 21 points in the victory, while Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 18 points in defeat.
The end to the regular season won't get any easier for the Lakers, who must quickly regroup for their showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.
Let's look at a complete breakdown of tonight's win by the Spurs.
Tweets of the Night
Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles provided us with an interesting stat comparing Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant's win totals.
From Elias: Tim Duncan has won 790 regular season games in 15 seasons (in games he's played in). Kobe has won 768 in 16 seasons
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 20, 2012
ESPN provided us with some interesting pictures comparing Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson's behavior on the bench.
Visual evidence that when from he’s on the bench, Kobe Bryant is a Phil Jackson clone --> es.pn/HTwZuj
— ESPN (@espn) April 20, 2012
The Spurs have been a good defensive team for over a decade, but against Kobe Bryant they do a particularly good job.
Kobe Bryant has scored fewer than 30 points in each of the last 12 regular-season games he has played against the Spurs.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 21, 2012
Lakers Nation tweeted what many purple and gold fans have been thinking this week.
Tony Parker has destroyed the Lakers tonight. Check that, this week.
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) April 21, 2012
Must-See Highlight
Check out Tony Parker's speed on this offensive sequence for the Spurs.
Grades for Key Spurs Players
Tony Parker: A
Spurs star point guard Tony Parker has dominated the Lakers this season and performed well again tonight, scoring 20 points and dishing out 10 assists.
Parker was doing a fabulous job of being aggressive and attacking the rim from the perimeter when weak defenders such as Ramon Sessions were guarding him.
If these two teams meet in the playoffs, Parker will have an easy time dominating whichever Lakers point guard defends him.
Tim Duncan: A
Duncan has looked really good this season and enters the playoffs healthy and well-rested since Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has managed his minutes well.
Duncan scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Friday night's win over the Lakers.
Grades for Key Lakers Players
Kobe Bryant: B
Kobe Bryant scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting in his first game back in two weeks because of a shin injury on his left leg.
With Pau Gaol and Andrew Bynum playing well lately, Bryant doesn't have to dominate offensively for the Lakers to win in the playoffs.
Ramon Sessions: C-
Poor defense on Tony Parker and a bad shooting night for Ramon Sessions hurt the Lakers' chances against the Spurs tonight.
Sessions scored only five points on 2-of-9 shooting. If the Lakers are going to be successful in the playoffs, Sessions has to defend top point guards well on a consistent basis.
Deciding Factor: Bench scoring
The Lakers' bench woes continued on Friday night as they could not get enough scoring production from their bench players against the Spurs.
L.A. got 36 points from their bench while Manu Ginobili scored 20 by himself for the Spurs, who had 60 points as a team off the bench.
Game MVP: Tony Parker
The French point guard was phenomenal against the Lakers and ran the Spurs offense very effectively. When he's playing well, Parker is finding the right balance between getting his teammates involved offensively and making sure he takes his own shots.
Parker's 20 points and 10 assists on Friday night were a major reason for the Spurs' success.
What's Next?
The Lakers will host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
The Spurs will remain at home for their next game on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Colorado Rockies Florida Marlins Houston Astros Los Angeles Dodgers Milwaukee Brewers New York Mets
No comments:
Post a Comment