The AP reports: The San Antonio Spurs appear to be a tired, beaten-up team in trouble. Perhaps the fact that they just survived a similar predicament will give them hope. Kobe Bryant scored 22 points, Lamar Odom added 20 points and 12 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers took command late in the second quarter to rout the Spurs 101-71 on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals over the defending champions… Los Angeles had to rally from a 20-point third-quarter deficit to win the opener 89-85 Wednesday night, and didn’t take its first lead in that game until the final 3 minutes. The Lakers never trailed in Game 2—the third time in their last four playoff games that happened. After a basket by Duncan enabled the Spurs to forge the only tie, the Lakers scored the final nine points of the second quarter for a 46-37 halftime lead… It was 74-57 entering the fourth quarter, and the Lakers made it a blowout by outscoring the Spurs 14-3 to begin the final period and make it 88-60… Manu Ginobili, who had started San Antonio’s previous six postseason games, was used in a reserve role, as was the case most of the season when he won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. It didn’t make any difference.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Lakers shot 54.9%, the Spurs just 34.5%. Both teams launched 20-something threes and shot badly from outside. The lakers hit 18-of-20 free throws, the Spurs had just 10 attempts and only hit 5. The Lakers had 8 more rebounds. Assists and turnovers were even.
For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant (10-of-17) had 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Lamar Odom (7-of-10) had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. Jordan Farmar (5-of-7) had 14 off the bench. Derek Fisher (4-of-5) had 11. Pau Gasol (4-of-9) had 10 with 7 rebounds and 2 steals.
For the Spurs, Tony Parker (just 6-of-15) had 13 points, no rebounds, and the same assists as turnovers. Tim Duncan (just 6-of-14, 0-of-4 free throws) had 12 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists. No other Spurs even reached double-digit points. And other than Duncan no Spur had more than 5 rebounds. And the entire Spurs team had just one block (Duncan).
