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2008 Lakers Spurs Preview

Written May 20, 2008 by Jack Jones

The Western Conference finals are set as the #1 seeded Los Angeles Lakers will take on the #3 seeded San Antonio Spurs, in what should be yet another classic final out west. The Lakers are coming in after taking care of the Utah Jazz in 6 games, while the Spurs needed 7 games to take care of the New Orleans Hornets. Both the Lakers and Spurs have dominated the playoffs winning a combined 7 out of the last 9 NBA titles. The Lakers haven’t won since the 2002-03 season when they won 3 straight. The Spurs on the other hand have won 3 of the last 5 including last season when they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers. This should be an exciting matchup as you have Kobe Bryant and Paul Gasol taking on Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. Lets take a look at how each team has been doing in the playoffs and we will give you our predictions on the outcome of the series.

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Los Angeles Lakers

After sweeping the Denver Nuggets in round one and taking the first two at home against the Jazz, many wondered if this team would lose a game. We all know that they ended up losing the next 2 games in Utah, before coming back with 2 more impressive wins to close out the series. Bryant is coming in putting up ridiculous numbers as he is averaging 33.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists in the playoffs. On top of that teams have to put up with Gasol and his 20 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. They have also got great play from Lamar Odom who comes in averaging a double double with 15.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. Derek Fisher has made some big shots and will be a key player in this series. So as you can see even though they have the two-headed monster in Bryant and Gasol, the Lakers are one of the deepest teams in the league.

San Antonio Spurs

While watching the playoffs this year we have a hard time seeing why teams don’t like watching the Spurs play. They play great defense and have 3 very good players who can put the ball in the basket. To me that sounds a lot like the Boston Celtics that so many fans seem to love. I think it’s more about this team just being so good that teams are tired of seeing them win. It looked like they were in trouble after losing 3 straight road games to the Hornets before finally taking one at the Hornets place in the biggest game of them all in game 7. The team seems to go as last years NBA Finals MVP Tony Parker goes. When he is on the team looks almost unbeatable. Parker is averaging 23.7 and 6.2 assists a game, Ginobili is bringing 20 points, and Tim Duncan is bringing in 19.2 and 13.3 rebounds a game. There isn’t another player bringing in more than 8 points a game, and if the Spurs look to repeat for the first time they will need someone to step it up.

Winner: Los Angeles Lakers

We picked the Lakers to win it all when the playoffs got underway, and we have changed our minds. Bryant is playing the best team basketball of his career and his teammates are cashing in at the opportunity. The addition of Gasol was huge for this team and it’s scary to think what they would be like if they had Andrew Bynum at full strength. This could be the beginning of another dynasty in LA.

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