9:03 - Neither Vlad nor Gasol puts a body on Tim Duncan, who crashes the middle of the lane to easily put back Oberto's miss.  Like I said before the game, I can live with the points Timmy gets (assuming they're not through the roof), but the Lakers need to keep him off the glass as much as possible.  Keeping their backs to the guy ain't "as much as possible."

7:54 - We're too far away to know for sure if Kobe called "glass," but that bank shot was pretty freaking sweet in any case.  With 4 early points (2-2 from the floor), he's hopefully put to rest the overblown "Will Kobe only shoot three times in the half?" discussion.

5:54 - Another Fish layup set up by a Lamar Odom defensive board.  Fast break ensues, LO hits Fisher with the bouncer and The Threepeat Club member twists his way through traffic with a head of steam and converts at the rim.  Time out San Antonio.  The Lakers are clearly executing considerably better than they did in the first quarter of the series opener.  Much more sharpness on display. 

4:43 - There's something you don't see often.  Bruce Bowen on the ground because someone hit him in the mouth.  Kobe accidentally caught him on the follow through as he was trying to sell a foul to the refs. 

3:44 - Gasol picks up a loose ball foul trying to bring back LO's miss.  That's his second, which brings Ronny into the mix. 

3:26 - I couldn't tell for sure if Fish was in the paint to specifically help double Duncan or just got caught up behind TD's body, but he couldn't free himself up to close out on Jaque Vaughn's 19 footer.

2:29 - Ronny's usually among the more mindful of Lakers when it comes to cutting to the bucket while Kobe's got the rock.  But this time, he's the one on the arc feeding Kobe with the bouncer, perfectly setting up Bryant for the dunk.

1:58 - Some good D on Duncan by Ronny causes The Big Fundamental to briefly bobble the ball, then put up the miss, a shot not nearly as errant as the 21 footer hucked by Robert Horry.  Clanks off the top of the backboard and doesn't even come close to the rim.  That will not be remembered as one of "Big Shot Rob's" bigger shots.

6.2 - Ginobli looks to drive across half court and set up for a quick shot, but some pestering D by Sasha (with a little help coming from Farmar) forces Manu to turn the ball over.  The Lakers don't come up any better with the remaining ticks on the clock, but still wind down the quarter up 21-16.  Kinda goes without saying, but the "night and day" fans were hoping for between Game 1's kickoff and today's was given to them.  Much better results, whether you're talking the Laker shooting percentage (50), the SA shooting percentage (33) or coming out on top of the rebound battle 11-8.  Only real downside?  6 turnovers.  I could do without those.  But all in all, a very solid start.  I'm gonna carry with the second quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

11:10 - Whether you consider the pass careless, telegraphed, or, as I'd vote, careless and telegraphed, Sasha's attempted dish inside gets swiped by Parker and taken in for an SA layup.  One possession later, Sasha nearly turns it over again.  But redemption is soon found off a swished 15-footer (set up by a sweet between-the-legs-and-behind-him pass from Luke Walton.  There's sometimes a reason the Lakers like Sasha making his bones doing more shooting/defending and less passing.

9:25 - Walton gets caught up in no man's land, which prevents him from being able to close out on Udoka at the three point line.  Dude can make 'em if you don't stick close.  Thankfully, two of those three points allowed are quickly made up after he sets up LO for the alley oop.

8:34 - Kobe draws attention while posting up and getting deeper in the paint, then kicks out to a way wide open Walton, who doesn't come through from behind the line.  He's simply gotta make that shot.

6:55 - Absolutely sensational play by Farmar streaking from behind Ime Udoka and blocking his layup.  Not quite "Tayshaun-Reggie," but it's not Jordan's fault it didn't come at the end of the game or that he doesn't have Prince's arms, so we'll cut him some slack.  Pretty durn close, at any rate.

5:30 - Gasol shorts the layup, his fourth miss on the night.  He's also only taken four shots, a big reason why he's sitting on zero points.  Right now, he just can't but a basket.   

3:52 - Finally, Pau's on the board, set up in "can't possibly miss this one" fashion by Kobe after some nice rock between movement Luke and The Mamba.

2:15 - Pau does a nice job covering Parker on a switch, but once Fish comes back, he kind of drifts away from TD, allowing the 18-footer well within his range.

38.6 - Five quick points from Sasha, first on a 19-footer, followed by a three ball.  Within seconds, Fish snags Oberto's miss, then drives coast to coast, shifting his body past a flying Manu to sink the layup.  7 fast points quickly put the Lakers up by 9, a 46-37 margin that they'll take into the locker room at the half.  More of the same (in terms of the good) from the Lakers during the second quarter.  San Antonio's still not getting any easy looks (35%, rounding up) and and equaling the Spurs' effort on the glass (21 apiece).  For their part, the Lakers bumped the first frame's 50% clip four more points and save Ronny Turiaf and DJ Mbenga (to be fair, the latter only got two seconds of PT), no Laker has stepped on the court without scoring a bucket.  About as good a half as you'd want.  BK will supervise the next two.   

THIRD QUARTER:

The Lakers come out hot, outscoring the Spurs 9-4 to push the lead to 55-41.  Right now, the Spurs haven't shown the ability to score neough to really get worried about them making a big run.  Ginobili seems incredibly limited right now, and the Lakers are doing a great job on him.  Strong start from Kobe, LO has been involved on both ends, and Fish has played well out of the box.

Pop is going to have to figure out a way to get the Spurs better looks, or his guys are going down 2-0.

9:04- Fish comes off the soft screen, then as Gasol creates a little space for him, buries the jumper at the FT line in front of Parker. 

8:35- Rad takes a Fish pass off the curl, and loses Manu for an easy basket.  That was a matchup the Lakers exploited in Game 1, then again early in the first quarter.  Manu just isn't moving well right now. Pop said before the game that he wasn't pleased with how he guarded Kobe.  Forget Kobe, he can't guard Vladdy. 

7:55- LO takes a hard foul from Manu, and buries the FTs.  Then on the next trip down, Oberto picks up the offensive foul.  Lakers can push the lead out from 15, 61-46.

7:00- Kobe drives baseline, and draws just a hint of a double, and LO moves into the lane for the easy dunk.  Wide open.  That's what happens when the Lakers get some space and teams elect to double Kobe. 

Pau comes down on the next trip and finally hits a shot over Duncan. 

65-48, LAL. All the momentum is with the Lakers right now.  They're really putting the pressure on at both ends.  Kobe in particular has dictated play incredibly well over the course of the quarter (been a pretty good game for that matter...).

5:29- Vlad got caught jumping a screen, and the help wasn't there.  Manu goes the other way, and has an easy track to the hole for the and-one.  Can't guess.  But that's one of the first times Manu has freed himself up all night.  It's going to happen occasionally.  The Lakers ahve done a great job keeping the Spurs away from the hoop,

including a great block from LO bringing help down the lane as Parker knifed in for the layup on the left block.  Big time swat.

4:02- Lakers by 15, 68-53.

Another block for LO, this time on Horry as the shot clock was running down.  Easy play for him, and it came as a result of great Lakers defense over the course of the quarter.

2:22- Duncan picks up his second personal, fouling Gasol on the low block.  Pau has played with a little more confience this quarter, for sure.  The results still aren't great (he's not looking at a monster box, that's for sure), but his contributions have been stronger this quarter.  He's showing a little more sack, if you will.  Playing tougher, taking the contact, initiating it more, etc.  Good for him.

END OF THE THIRD:

Lakers cap off a great quarter with a fantastic play from Gasol, who drove baseline on TD, then as the double came wrapped a pass with those long ass arms to LO, who hit the lay up.  Great play.  Good to see Gasol come back strong after a tough first half.  As for the Lakers, again they just swallowed up San Antonio's offense.  20 points, on 8-20 from the floor.  They're also doing it without fouling.  Through three, the Spurs have a grand total of 10 free throws.  That's a great number, even with the home floor advantage. 

The Lakers enter the fourth up 17, 74-57.  Given that the Spurs haven't scored more than 21 points in any one quarter tonight, it's a pretty comfortable place to be.

FOURTH QUARTER:

Great start for LA.  A Farmar three off a good run out from Walton puts them up 81-60.  The defense tonight has been as good as anything they've put out all year.  SA is missing some open shots, but they're not getting very many.   Eery team will miss a few gimmies over the course of a game.  Overall, the Lakers just aren't giving the Spurs any space to operate.  The switches have been very crisp, guys are closing out well, helping, etc. 

It wouldn't surprise me to see Pop pack it in soon.  For a team like SA, it's probably not worth the effort to try and wipe out a 21 point deficit in nine minutes. 

And coming out of the TO, Barry, Thomas, Vaughn, Udoka, and Stoudamire.  Guess I was right.

6:22- Lakers up by 26.  I'm wondering when PJ is going to get Kobe off the floor...

Gasol and LO are done for the night, I would think.  But why keep Kobe out there?

5:53- Ariza in for Kobe, and he gets the obligatory Welcome Back Kotter theme.  This is perfect for LAL.  He'll get six minutes of pressureless run to get his legs back and a feel for the game, and that'll make it easier for him to get on the floor over the rest of the series.

You can't underestimate how hard it is to not play for four months or so and then step back on the floor in the Western Conference Finals.