Tag: NBA Finals

Spurs take Game 1 in best of 7 with Lakers

It wasn’t a shooting exhibition but it was good enough as the San Antonio Spurs ran away with a 91-79 victory at the AT&T Center. The Lakers shot just 41% and 20% from the three point line. The Lake show also gave up 18 turnovers.

“I thought tonight was the best defense we’ve played in three or four weeks,” head coach Gregg Popovich said. “It came at a good time.”

The Spurs didn’t shoot much better.  By the end of the game they were shooting an erratic 37.6% and 31.8% from the three-point line.  They were led by Tim Duncan (17 points, 10 rebounds 3 steals) and Tony Parker (18 points, 8 assists 3 steals) but Parker could do nothing but praise the return of Manu Ginobili.

“He is a huge key with what we do,  He has been here a long time and really knows our system and tonight he made some timely threes and was our energy off the bench…We are going to need that if we want to go far in the playoffs.”

Game 2 will tip off Wednesday at 9:30 PM so be sure to get your tickets!

Spurs 9th in PBT’s first NBA power rankings

It’s never too early to start looking at power ratings — particularly with the season starting on Sunday.

Pro Basketball Talk’s weekly power ratings always are a must read.  It’s obvious they put a lot of thought into their weekly rankings of the NBA.

Kurt Helin starts the season with the Mavericks first in the league. I think the loss of Tyson Chandler will hurt them more than most and would be hesistant to place them at the top of my list. I might opt for Miami — despite the Heat’s NBA Finals loss to the Mavericks.

Helin tabs the . Here’s what he has to say about the Silver and Black:

“9. Spurs (61-21). They were the best team in the West last regular season, but they didn’t have the size up front to stop a team with a big front line in the playoffs. A team like Memphis. That hasn’t changed.”

Helin is right. The Spurs are depleted inside, particularly if Antonio McDyess makes good on his retirement threat and the Spurs don’t add another veteran player to replace him.

It’s a little much to expect Tiago Splitter to be able to make up for McDyess’ loss by himself. So the rationale having the Spurs in the bottom part of the top 10 probably is about right.

Poll: Will an NBA lockout affect your feelings as a fan?

The NBA lockout is expected to go into effect at 11:01 a.m. Friday.

On the heels of the highest-rated NBA Finals in a decade, the league’s owners and players have reached an impasse in areas involving basketball related income, cap exceptions and a hard cap, and revenue sharing.

Rookies are missing summer league play and they won’t be working out with their teams. Free agents and undrafted players are in limbo … although some may head overseas to play for pay.

How will fans react? Lockouts or strikes in other sports, notably in Major League Baseball,  have resulted in a drop in fanbase.