Second Quarter:

Ginobli's now in. Along with Nick the Quick, who just scattered cheers after sinking a trey. People must still really appreciate his "Cancun" jokes (it's all in the delivery).

Okay, Vujacic was obviously guilty on that offensive foul. But he's like, 110 pounds, going up against Nazr Mohammed. Don't you think they should allow him to do whatever's needed? Just in the interest of fairness? It's not like taking it to the hole is the guy's speciality even when doing it against a guard. C'mon refs! Free Sasha!

Hate to say it, but I don't like seeing Kwame miss like that. Yeah, Odom cleaned it up for a basket, so no harm, no foul. I just think he needs some good stuff early, lest he get inside his own head.

Manu Ginobli is exhausting just to watch play. He's so freaky, herky jerky, helter skelter. I can't imagine actually guarding the guy.

I'm glad Kwame and Luke got a nice look at Mohammed putting that rebound back. I'd hate to see the view spoiled by making an effort to box out.

Nice job by Kwame, both on Duncan and being disruptive on that switch, when he ended up with Barry.

Things I never thought I'd ever see include Brian Cook staying with Tony Parker enough to force him into an awkward shot.

I think we're gonna switch comments back to the old way at Halftime. But thanks for sticking with the experiment that is, "K Brothers Live Blogging"

The kids up in Kwame's Korner (the spelling error is intentional, FYI) just got announced and are going nuts. Brian Cook has his own section of kids he brings in as well. I wonder if the two factions ever go at it outside Staples, like the gang members in the "Beat it" video.

That last basket by Kobe. Every but as freakin' cool in person as I'm guessing it looked on TV. He went through so many dudes, it looked like he even split the guys on the Spurs' bench en route to the basket. Good strong rebound by Kwame to set things up. Thought for sure Smush's basket was going down.

Halftime - 45-43, Lakers. A few too many bad passes, a couple instances of dudes standing around on the defensive glass, but you can't be too bummed keeping S.A. on pace for sub-90. Gonna get me my iced tea. See ya when the third starts.

Third Quarter:

They've only played half a game together, and I've already seen Turiaf absolutely crack Jim Jackson up. I'm telling you, give this kid a year and he's gonna end up the mayor of L.A.

What's up the rim on the Laker's new half of the court? Everything's popping in and out like there's a trampoline in the cylinder.

Supposedly "wacky," definitely annoying actor David Arquette just sat down courtside. It may not be a bad omen for the Lakers, but it's a seriously bad sign for the dude stuck sitting next to him. I would get up and leave, even having dropped 1100 bucks on the ticket.

They just showed the celebs in the house on the Jumbotron. Sorry Eva Longoria. You're gonna get booed. She was actually a pretty god sport and started laughing.

53-68 Spurs. Okay, seriously, the Lakers need to get this one into gear pretty fast, or you're gonna be seeing the debut of Jim Jackson for all the wrong reasons.

All kidding aside, the refs are calling nothing in this game. You could pull a gun on an opposing player and get away with it tonight. I like when they let them play, but it's nonetheless pretty odd.

I don't know what the Lakers are gonna do to stop these guys. RIght now, that basket is looking  bigger to S.A. than Kirstie Alley.

Wow! These refs are calling nothing. On either team. For real. Both sides are getting away with murder here. This is like that one old basketball video game where players go at it on the playgorund and get to throw elbows and beat the crap out of each other. Only with extremely well paid athletes.

Fourth Quarter:

Luke Walton fights inside, actually inspires a freakin' whistle.

There's a really hot chick to my right in the stands, screaming "Manu" and cheering him excitedly over and over. For some reason, I can't seem to get annoyed by her.  For that matter, neither can any of the male Lakers fans around her.

All of a sudden, this thing just turned into a ginormous mess for the Lakers. But some of that is just San Antonio. I'm not saying the Lakers can't beat them (and we're not done yet, kids), but this is what happens when you play a team that's much better. You have trouble with them.

Remember that scene in Rocky II when Mickey makes Rocky chase that chicken around to build up speed? That might be the only way to train for a night guarding Tony Parker. He makes everyone look, as Rocky put it, like a "Kentucky Fried idiot."

Devean George dunks. Ronny Turiaf jitter bugs on the side line. Andrew Bynum is amused.

Okay, as Duncan was lying on the ground, some fans were yelling "Duncan sucks." Not classy, Lakers fans. You can do better than that.

That flagrant is a horrible call. The refs should have been calling a few more fouls tonight. They could have used a little warmup and some practice.

They should just call this game and let Kobe and Tony Parker have a shoot out. Those two can't miss.

Has San Antonio even missed a trey this quarter? It's unreal.

Honestly, I wouldn't even mind it if the hot girl kept screaming "Manu" if she were with me. I'm just saying.

Well, it's all done but the shouting. Except, of course, for the girl yelling, "Manu."

All in all, honestly, I'm really not all that disappointed. Obviously, I wanted a win. But I don't even need to inject me some truth serum to admit this is a better team than L.A. They just are. But I think it was a good sign the way the Lakers didn't give up, stayed with/in it, and acted like guys who thought they had every business competing against the defending NBA champs. That's pretty good stuff, even if it sounds overly idealistic to many of y'all.

And FYI, we refuse to take responsibility for this loss, so don't even try! We gave it our all! Sometimes even the blog is overmatched.

Until we meet again...

AK