LOS ANGELES — Two NBA Western Conference powers met Sunday with a lot on the line.
One — the Los Angeles Lakers — emerged as the front-runner in the crazy Western battle to finish with a No. 1 seed in the playoffs and left the Staples Center pleased with their defensive intensity and offensive unselfishness.
The other — the San Antonio Spurs — took a step back into a dogfight among a handful of other Western teams looking for favorable playoff positioning and left Los Angeles with worries about their health and their offensive firepower.
The Lakers won going away 106-85, holding the Spurs to 32 points in the second half and showing no mercy to a longtime rival missing a vital element in its attack; guard Manu Ginobili sat out with an injured groin. “Just a lot of fun,” Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said. “We had a great time.”
GAME REPORT: Lakers 106, Spurs 85
The Spurs, less so.
“Heck of a team,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the Lakers.
Now, the Lakers (56-25), who clinched their first Pacific Division title in four years Friday, will end up No. 1 in the West if they beat the Sacramento Kings in their season finale Tuesday and the Houston Rockets lose one of their last two. But the Lakers could still end up the No. 2 or No. 3 seed depending on how Houston and the New Orleans Hornets finish the season.
“We have a responsibility,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, “to finish this out the right way.”
Wherever the Lakers end up, they have stamped themselves as a team that will be tough to beat in the playoffs, even if they don’t get back injured center Andrew Bynum. They played stifling second-half defense Sunday and had six players in double figures.
Bryant made his next-to-last statement in the MVP race by making his teammates better. He had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists and was happy to dish off to Pau Gasol (14 points, 11 rebounds), Lamar Odom (17 and 14), Derek Fisher (14 points), Jordan Farmar (11) and Ronny Turiaf (10).
“We have a tremendous amount of versatility, wings and bigs who are fast and athletic and long,” Bryant said.
Seven-foot Gasol bothered 6-11 Tim Duncan, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds but missed 13 of 19 shots while being guarded mostly by Gasol. “He’s hard to stop,” Gasol said. “Sometimes I’m more successful than others.”
One — the Los Angeles Lakers — emerged as the front-runner in the crazy Western battle to finish with a No. 1 seed in the playoffs and left the Staples Center pleased with their defensive intensity and offensive unselfishness.
The other — the San Antonio Spurs — took a step back into a dogfight among a handful of other Western teams looking for favorable playoff positioning and left Los Angeles with worries about their health and their offensive firepower.
The Lakers won going away 106-85, holding the Spurs to 32 points in the second half and showing no mercy to a longtime rival missing a vital element in its attack; guard Manu Ginobili sat out with an injured groin. “Just a lot of fun,” Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said. “We had a great time.”
GAME REPORT: Lakers 106, Spurs 85
The Spurs, less so.
“Heck of a team,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the Lakers.
Now, the Lakers (56-25), who clinched their first Pacific Division title in four years Friday, will end up No. 1 in the West if they beat the Sacramento Kings in their season finale Tuesday and the Houston Rockets lose one of their last two. But the Lakers could still end up the No. 2 or No. 3 seed depending on how Houston and the New Orleans Hornets finish the season.
“We have a responsibility,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, “to finish this out the right way.”
Wherever the Lakers end up, they have stamped themselves as a team that will be tough to beat in the playoffs, even if they don’t get back injured center Andrew Bynum. They played stifling second-half defense Sunday and had six players in double figures.
Bryant made his next-to-last statement in the MVP race by making his teammates better. He had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists and was happy to dish off to Pau Gasol (14 points, 11 rebounds), Lamar Odom (17 and 14), Derek Fisher (14 points), Jordan Farmar (11) and Ronny Turiaf (10).
“We have a tremendous amount of versatility, wings and bigs who are fast and athletic and long,” Bryant said.
Seven-foot Gasol bothered 6-11 Tim Duncan, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds but missed 13 of 19 shots while being guarded mostly by Gasol. “He’s hard to stop,” Gasol said. “Sometimes I’m more successful than others.”
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