If I’m honest with myself, I didn’t think we could win this game. My best hope was for a moral victory, that we could keep it close and competitive. After the way they completely owned us in San Antonio a few weeks ago, never in my wildest dreams did I think we could go into Staples Center and not only win, but win handily.
From the 2nd quarter on, we completely controlled the game. Despite giving up a few too many offensive rebounds, our defense was ferocious, denying the Lakers good shots or even good execution. On offense, we were patient and ran the offense either through Duncan in the post or Ginobili in the pick and roll, our two greatest offensive weapons. We dictated the tempo, and never let the Lakers superior athleticism and length overwhelm us.
When the Lakers made a charge in the 4th and closed the gap to 2 points, I thought “uh oh…here comes the collapse.” Instead, we rattled off a huge run (mostly on Ginobili’s brilliance) and put the game away. We played with poise and calm down the stretch, and we outplayed the champs.
Maybe it’s time to recalibrate our expectations for this team. All season we’ve been waiting for this team to step up and play like the team we’ve known from years past. And anytime we’d had a glimmer of this happening, the team would immediately crush our hopes and start sucking again. But our play over the last few weeks can’t be denied (the NJ game excepted, and let’s just agree to never talk about that game again, okay?). It’s not just that we’re winning–it’s how we’re winning. We’ve beaten the Lakers by 19, the Magic by 12, the Rockets by 17, and the Celtics by 21 (not to mention beating the league-best Cavs by 5). Any way you slice it, that’s impressive.
If we continue to play this way, I like our chances in the first round against any team in the Western Conference, save the Lakers. I know we just beat them. But I don’t want the defending champs in the opening round. Any other team? Bring them on. I’ll put our best against their best and like our odds. In Ginobili and Duncan we trust.
Looking Forward:
Another TRAP GAME! warning. We play the Kings in Sacramento Tuesday night. The following night we have a huge game against Phoenix, and then Memphis and Denver (in another back to back) right after that. We need to take care of business, exactly like we didn’t do in the game that shall not be mentioned.
But George got injured, and that means RoMaJu is going to be handling the ball. *cringe*