Preview: Western Conference Semifinals Game 6 Spurs @ Lakers 5/15/04 (TNT)

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<font color="Purple"><font size="4"><div align="center">Los Angeles Lakers </div> </font> </font> <font size="4"><div align="center">lead the series 3-2</div></font>
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<div align="center"><font color="Gray">San Antonio Spurs </font> @ <font color="Purple"> Los Angeles Lakers </font> </div>
<div align="center">Time: 7:30 p.m. PT
Location: Staples Center
TV: TNT</div>


Head Coaches:
Gregg Popovich/Phil Jackson

<u>Probable Game 6 Starting Lineups:</u>

Tony Parker/Gary Payton
Bruce Bowen/Kobe Bryant
Hedo Turkoglu/Devean George
Tim Duncan/Karl Malone
Rasho Nesterovic/Shaquille O'Neal

Sixth Men
Manu Ginobili/Derek Fisher

Injury Report


No injuries to report


No injuries to report

<u>Laker_Fever's Game 6 Prediction Matchups:</u>

<u>Point Guards</u>


Tony Parker really looked like a guy that was in Popovich's doghouse in the beginning of his career. Not only did he look horrible on his offensive possessions, but he couldn't create anything for his teammates. And before the Spurs rallied from a 16 point deficit in Game 5, his body language just showed that he gave up and was preparing for the worst. Parker and Pop must make adjustments and better preparations for Game 6 as they fight for their lives to stay aloft in this series if they want to return to the SBC Center for a Game 7. I look for Parker to keep doing what he's been doing throughout against Gary Payton. Using his blazing speed and quickness to get to the basket. And when he comes off the pick and roll, he must look to hit the open shot. At times during Game 5, he missed golden opportunities to get himself going to build confidence, and if the Spurs want to stay alive, he must provide for his team. Gary Payton is still not in the flow of things, and who knows how long it'll be for him to finally wake up from his basketball coma, but I know he's been fed up with the Payton/Parker criticism from the media, and I really feel that he's going to play his best basketball. Not only will the team defense play a huge role on Parker, but Payton will have the last laugh on this matchup.
Advantage Saturday: Lakers

<u>Shooting Guards</u>


We all know Bruce Bowen doesn't provide offense for the Spurs, his offensive numbers have gone completely south in this series, but he is a defensive specialist for this team whenever he's needed to shut down a big name player. Popovich is going to rely on Bowen to shut down one of the premier players in the league, Kobe Bryant. If Bowen isn't thinking about the demoralizing loss of Game 5, then he may have a chance to do so Saturday night in Los Angeles, however I really doubt this plan will work to his advantage because Kobe hasn't really been contained by Bowen all series long. He's having his way with him, he's penetrating to the basket, drawing contact and getting to the free throw line and he's creating for his teammates. Laker fans know and understand how heartbreaking and demoralizing it was for Kobe Bryant to be sitting on that bench alongside Derek Fisher crying on the bench. Does anybody doubt this man won't play with huge fire in his eyes? Kobe will put the nail in the coffin and any hopes of that team repeating for a championship will soon come to an end with another Kobe vintage performance.
Advantage Saturday: Lakers

<u>Small Forwards</u>


This position still looks like a big problem for the San Antonio Spurs. Turkoglu is still struggling from the field, and if it wasn't for those clutch perimter shots in Game 5 that kept the game close for the Spurs, no knows how his stats would look throughout this series? It still looks like he's carrying a Sacramento mentality in which he passes up open shots from the field. He is somewhat of an excellent outside shooter, but he does tend to pass up good looks at the basket, and instead he forces up ridiculous shots. For Devean George, he must stay aggressive. Coming off a 16 point performance, clearly his best performance since the Laker injury bugs earlier in the season, and by far his best performance of this 2004 playoffs, he must keep it going. His outside shot must be consistent at all times. If his shots do continue to fall from the field, San Antonio would rely mostly on defending Kobe, Shaq, and Karl. That they'd forget about Devean George. He could be the X-factor Saturday night. And if it takes him to drive hard to the basket and throw up a vicious dunk like he attempted in Game 3 and Game 6, so be it.
Advantage Saturday: Lakers

<u>Power Forwards</u>


If there's anybody on that Spurs team that plays with everything he has, and leaves everything on the basketball court, it's Tim Duncan. Duncan has pretty much been contained this series although his numbers were terrific in Game 5 in which he scores 21 points and provided 21 boards, but the Spurs are really going to need him to perform at the best of his ability. Everybody may be playing with their heads down after that heartbreaking loss, but if the San Antonio Spurs want to have a chance to send this series back to the SBC Center, Tim Duncan will have to play like the MVP he's capable of being plain and simple. Karl Malone struggled mightily in Game 5. All he did was throw up bricks left and right. I wouldn't mind that Malone work on his offensive game, but his defensive tactics against Duncan will be key tomorrow night. He must continue to do what he's been doing throughout this series. Harrassing him, disrupting him, frustrating him, being physical, and lastly stripping the ball from his hands as he drives to the basket.
Advantage Saturday: Spurs

<u>Centers</u>


Shaquille O'Neal didn't have his best of games yesterday evening, only scoring 11 points and only shooting nine attempts from the field. I'm not sure if that was a poor gameplan by Phil Jackson, or if that was excellent team defense on the Spurs part. But the Diesel can't waste his time at all against Rasho Nesterovic. Shaq must take that lean man on a ride in the paint. Being that dominant force he's still capable of being, and showing off his vintage performances earlier in the series. Shaq must understand that he has a big advantage over Rasho, and that he can easily have his way with him whenever he wants. His biggest problem however, and we all know this, is free throws. Can Shaq hit a significant number of freebies in this game? Because if Shaq starts missing from the line consistently, and he tends to do that at times, the Spurs can take advantage of that quickly if they score points on their end of the court. Rasho Nesterovic scored a disappointing two points in Game 5. Now I don't know if that's inconsistency, or if he's just plain scared, but the Spurs won't go anywhere with that kind of statistic.
Advantage Saturday: Lakers

<div align="center">Players To Watch Game 4
</div>

<div align="center">Tim Duncan & Kobe Bryant</div>

<div align="center">Duncan: 20.8 pts, 12.40 rebs, 3.6 assists, .80 steals
Bryant: 27.5 pts, 6.80 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.00 steals</div>


Laker Fever's Prediction

As I've mentioned many times in this preview, the members of the 2003 Lakers squad remember what happened when this same Spurs team came into their house and not only beat the Lakers in Staples Center, they destroyed them. With Kobe and Derek displaying their emotion for the world to see on that bench in Game 6 last year, they will be playing wth a ton of fire, energy, intensity, heart, and the will to win. Plus, with the way the Spurs lost that game with 0.4 ticks on the clock, thinking they had the game in the bag, needing one huge defensive stop to seal the win, and watching Fisher's shot swish through the net, it'll be too demoralizing and miserable for them to actually travel to Los Angeles and play a game for 48 minutes. I really believe that the Lakers will end the Spurs hopes of repeating, and they'll await the winner of the Kings/Twolves series in the Western Conference Finals. Lakers by 10.

 

Spurs by 4.

 

Spurs by 9. They need this game and the Lakers might put their guard down. We'll see who wants this one more.

 

lol last night was so sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet if u were a Lakers fan....i mean....daaaaaaaaaaamn that was a heart breaker for all u spurs fans....even tho im fans of both teams that was just.....awesome for laker fans i can imagine....

now the lakers have a chance to wrap it up....this is exactly like last years situation, only this time, lakers are up 3-2.....and they wanna close this out...

homecourt behind them, an amazing win behind them, they wanna make the spurs cry and avenge last year...

and the lakers clearly have the momentum going into game 6


prediction: lakers by 10

 

On Saturday night I expect to see two great teams both wanting to win this game very badly. The Spurs, avenging last night's jaw-dropping buzer beater, need the win to stay in the playoffs and remain champions, and Lakers, just so close to the gold that they can touch it, need the win to advance into the Western Conference Finals. One way or another, something's gotta give. But I think that the Lakers will have too much momentum to be beaten by the Spurs.
Lakers by 8.

 

I'll go with The Lakers By 4-5 Points!!

The Lakers seem to have the momentium from that last minute shot,so i'll go along with the Lakers

 

Spurs will take it by 1-3 points. Nice job making this Emo.

I think that on this game, the key matchups will be Kobe and Bowen. You got the best deffensive player against the best player right now...who knows what will happen.

 

The Lakers are going to smell blood and finish off the Spurs. Shaq will be more crucial in this game because of how exhausted Kobe seems and because he really didn't do much in Game 6.

I expect Shaq to get a monstrous double double (30-20 type of line) as the Lakers win the series with a 12 point win.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Care to wager your ugly sig for that spread? :mrgreen:</div>Sure. If the Spurs win will you sport it?

 

To say the Lakers will lose this game because they think they've got the series won is to say they're childish and immature... that's to say they don't respect the reasons why Karl and Gary are on the team this year... that's to say they have no experience closing out series... that's to say the Spurs will DEFINITELY bounce back from "one of the cruelest defeats" in their history and play well enough to beat the Lakers on their homefloor.

No team beats the motivated Lakers on STAPLES Center, they're on a mission: to win that 4th championship in 5 years, and to help get what Karl and Gary are due: rings... no team, and no team on a low spirit and on brink of an elimination like the Spurs after Game 5. Remember this, during their 2 championship runs in 1999 and 2003, the Spurs were NEVER in the position of being eliminated with a loss in any series before. They have never faced elimination. On the other hand, the Lakers have faced elimination four times during their three-peat championship runs:

2000 First round, Kings series tied 2-2... Game 5: won
2000 Conference Finals, Blazers series tied 3-3... Game 7: won
2002 Conference Finals, Kings series Kings lead 3-2... Game 6: won
2002 Conference Finals, Kings series tied 3-3... Game 7: won

Can the Spurs overcome the obstacles? Can they do what they have never done before? Avoid elimination and force the decisive last Game 7? My honest answer: I think they can but having none of this experience before definitely hurts their chances. If they come out strong in this shaky moment I'll be honestly surprised... but that'll definitely say a lot about their hearts. My prediction though is that: they'll have their moments however brief and most of the game will look and play lost, Lakers by 17.

(Edit: ) Well, unless there's a David Stern call this series won't go past 6!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">They have to win by 9 points though like you predicted. I'll sport your sig, and if the Lakers cover your 9 point spread I'll have one made extra special for you.</div>
That ain't really fair but I'll take that bet. I have no shame.

 

^ how is that not fair? You sport a sig that he makes if you lose the bet, and he sports that ugly sig you got if he wins the bet... sounds fair to me!

Great preview btw Emo, and I'll take the Lakers by 10 on this one. Despite some who think they might come out with their guard down, I think they will be doing the opposite and be trying to close this Spurs team down as soon as possible. Although I'm sure they're confident as hell that they can win this game, I know the last thing they want is to send this back to San Antonio with the Spurs playing confident ball.

 

lakers have the homecourt, so i think lakers by 2 with a buzzer again.
shaq will dominate this game i think and they must contain parker and duncan.

 

Lakers win by 5, becuase they have won three and the spures have lost three in a row spacialy the last game, every laker player will step up tonight becuase phil is not so happy about that 16 point loss.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ICED T:</div><div class="quote_post">Lakers win by 5, becuase they have won three and the spures have lost three in a row spacialy the last game, every laker player will step up tonight becuase phil is not so happy about that 16 point loss.</div>

huh? Oh never mind, giving up that 16 point deficit. Yeah the Lakers will have to stay focused and carry their momentum to this game. Hopefully the Lakers can do this and finish off the Spurs.

 

Lakers by 10, but it will be tough. The Spurs had their heart ripped out and handed to them when it was beating the strongest, that in itself would kill most teams, but there are 2 big factors here:

1) After the last game, Kobe was so exhausted they had him on IVs. Kobe will play hard, but he's still not going to be 100%. Don't let that fool you. Even a 50-75% Kobe Bryant will ruin the opposition.

2) Tim Duncan is a robot who feels no emotion, so there is no such thing as an emotional loss. :mrgreen: But seriously, Duncan doesn't bring baggage with him into a game. Even if the other Spurs come out dejected (Read: Tony Parker), Duncan will come out ready to play. Eventually that will rub off on the others, and they'll make a run.

Look for the Lakers to come out strong right away, but after the half you'll see a different Spurs team.

 

I'm taking the Lakers in another close one. The Lakers have all the momentum. They've came back and after being completely counted out of this series, have come and won the last 3. They're playing at the top of their game right now. The Spurs however, have got to be emotionally and mentally drained after that disheartening end to game 5. The Spurs have no momentum. They lost it all on the Fisher shot like someone said earlier. I don't see the Spurs able to completely pull it together to win this one. Lakers by 6.