11:00- Lakers double Duncan in the post, and he makes them pay with a slick pass to Oberto for an easy bucked for the Spurs, who lead 3-2.

7:50- Nice play by LO to let space open up, waiting on the perimeter, then making a strong drive left into the lane for the layup.  The Lakers have had some good looks early on, but aren't getting a lot of shots to fall. If they stay the course, though, things should be okay.  It wouldn't hurt to slow down on the jumpers a little, and continue working to the rack. 

6:37: Drive and kick to Vlad Rad who sinks a tough three to tie the game at 11.  Timeout on the floor.  Not a bad start for the Lakers, who have forced a couple early turnovers, but they need to tighten up on the open looks underneath for SA.  Good ball movement early for the Spurs, who have four dimes on five buckets.  The Lakers, on their five, only have one.  Not how they usually operate.

5:07- Spurs up 16-13, in part because the Lakers aren't getting the ball down low.  Too many jumpers.  Meanwhile, Duncan makes a nifty little reverse pivot move on Pau in the post, faking into the lane then moving back baseline for a deuce, pushing the lead to five. 

3:16- Pau hoists up a weak shot in the lane, and it didn't look good.  I'm not sure Pau was expecting the pass, but he didn't take the ball up with much aggression.  Given the space he had, I'd have liked to see him take a shot at Duncan, going to the hoop and maybe drawing a foul. At the very least, he'd have given him something to think about.

2:52- Timeout on the floor.  Spurs up 21-15.  Bowen in back from the TO, Sasha and JF in for LA.

:30-  A triple from Manu gives the Spurs a 28-15 lead.  Sasha comes back on the other end, and misses a three of his own.  Then Pau grabs the offensive board (pushing Duncan in the process, which should have been called), and bumps Thomas, who goes down like he was hit with a tire iron.  The refs call that one.  Next year, that sort of thing gets Thomas fined. 

Meanwhile, the quarter ends with the Lakers down 28-15, and I don't think it's a problem of defense.  Obviously there have been some breakdowns, but that's going to hapen.  Overall, the switches and rotations have been pretty good.  On the other end, the Lakers are taking way too many jumpers.  They're not attacking the basket, and when they are, they're not making it count.  At this point, look for SA to just pack the lane and dare LA to continue shooting.  They're doing the Spurs a favor for sure.

AK will have the second verse, hopefully appreciably different than the first.

SECOND QUARTER

11:16 - Ronny kicks out from the paint to LO, who misses from behind the arc.  I don't like the shot and not just because it was a miss.  There have been far too many jumpers so far and not nearly enough happening in the paint.   

10:20 - Away from the ball, Sasha takes an elbow in the face in front of a ref.  The official must have thought it was a flop, because no whistle follows.  On his trip down to the other end of the court, Vujacic goes out of his way to show the ref a mark on his face.

9:19 - Nice job by Sasha of pestering Manu towards the baseline, then intercepting the pass as Ginobli tries to get himself out of trouble.

42.9 - Sorry for the delay, but I had to reboot my computer twice.  Not sure what the problem was, but I couldn't get the blog software program to respond.  But I got back going again at just the right time.  LO snags a rebound, takes it coast to coast through a couple of Spurs defenders, then draws the foul after sinking the layup.  And one converted. 

5.0 - Another drive to the rack, this time by Kobe.  He doesn't draw the foul, but the bucket nonetheless cuts the SA lead to six, the same 48-42 clip it stands at when halftime commences.  I can sum up all of my disatisfaction in one word: Jumpers.  Too many of them, whether from inside or outside the arc (the Lakers have already taken 10 treys at a 20% completion rate).  Not nearly enough ball movement, especially the kind that heads towards the bucket.  The last couple minutes saw the Lakers doing more of what they should along these lines, and also saw them get back into the game.  Coincidence?  I doubt it.

THIRD QUARTER

11:20 - I can't say for certain whether that turnover from Pau to LO was a case of Gasol expecting a zig and Lamar zagging or vice versa.  But in any case, the ball leaked into the backcourt with nary a purple and gold hand touching it.

8:46 - A jumper just inside the key from Kobe, right on the heels of a Fisher steal/layup, cuts the lead to six.  Again, more movement closer to the basket, more action entering the Laker scoreboard.

5:50 - A pair at the stripe brings it back within six.  Lot of raggedy play, and the Lakers are still hanging in there. 

4:12 - A mid-ranger gets canned by LO, squeezing that deficit back to a quartet.  Before I can finish the sentence, Gasol throws down off an assist from Kobe.  One more bucket and we're back to square. 

2:42 - Good team D forces Tony Parker into a missed jumper and a 24 second violation.  Time out SA, followed by the jumbotron "Hollywood Nights" montage.  Flea whips the crowd into a frenzy waving his towel around.  Diddy gets some boos with the cheers.  I guess there aren't a lot of Ciroc drinkers in the house.

1:11 - Great ball movement leads to an 11-footer canned by Kobe, providing the Lakers' their first lead since the first quarter.  LO drives the ball inside, then kicks out to Gasol just inside the arc.  The Spaniard whips it off fast to Kobe, who's got just enough daylight to string net.

Walton misses a 71-footer to beat the buzzer (everyone knows his range is 70 feet and in), but the Lakers still sit on top of a one point lead.  64-63.  Much better defense from the Lakers, who've knocked the Spurs shooting percentage from 51 to 47 and outrebounded San Antonio 12-7.  Much better shot selection as the quarter progressed.  We'll see if they can bring it home.

FOURTH QUARTER      

10:41 - Pau blocks Duncan's layup, but the loose ball ends up back in TD's hands, and his putback draws the foul on Sasha.  One of two fall.  67-66 Lakers.

10:16 - Walton's missed jumper from 21 out gets tracked down by Duncan.  And it's easy to see why he got it, considering he pushed off hard on Pau. I guess the ref saw something I didn't, because the play happened right in front of him. 

9:38 - Farmar dribbles inside and under the bucket, then kicks out to a wide open and (hitting nothing so far) Walton.  Finally, Walton registers a field goal and the trey couldn't have come at a better time.

9:06 - A new Laker possession is set up off by some Farmar thievery, so it's only fitting that he conclude it with a reverse layup.  Another time ut is taken by SA, with the Laker lead now stretched to four.  The Laker bench players have all come up pretty big on several occasions during this game.

7:58 - The second straight possession that ends in a Kobe bucket, the latter a little baby jumper on the heels of a layup.  With 29 and counting now racked, he's got that "I'm bringng this bad boy home" look going. 

7:15 - The ball ends up dribbling out to Sasha at the arc, but Barry is still slow enough closing out that Sasha has time to measure the shot and hit nothing but nylon.   

5:50 - As Kobe comes up dry on a 14-footer, Pau retains the possession by pulling a bit of a "Pacino," drawing a push off foul on... and this is not a typo... Tony Parker.  A sell job, to be sure, but it could also be considered a makeup from about two minutes earlier.  The extra possession eventually leads to an LO putback for another two points.

3:34 - The Lakers dodge a big-time bullet when good SA ball movement and slow reactions converge to create a wide open trey attempt for Manu. Thankfully, Ginobli remains as erratic as tonight's gone for him, rattling the shot off the rim and into Gasol's mitts.  Cue an 8-foot runner by Kobe.

2:07 - Gasol hangs tough standing his ground in the paint against Duncan, forcing a missed chippie.  Kobe snags the board, dribbles a few feet beyond the arc and everyone clears out.  After a few more bounces, Kobe simply drives right past the sea of SA defenders, TD the last Spur to watch as he wraps the layup into the bucket.  Time out SA, as the Lakers sit on a 7-point lead.

33.4 - Barry takes an awfully long time before fouling Sasha.  If the reason is him not being able to hear for sure whether Pop wanted it, I can't say I blame him.  It's beyond deafening in here right now.  Possibly the loudest I've ever heard Staples.  Vujacic is good on both.  Lakers sit on a 93-84 margin.

18.2 - Sasha's trapped in the corner off the inbound and tosses the ball to Parker trying to free up the rock.  Layup by Mr. Longoria.  Right on the heels of Vladdy accidentally fouling FInley along the arc and giving him three made treys.  Not worried about the Spurs pulling off the upset, but no need to make it this interesting.

Sasha throws up a shot as the clock expires draining a meaningless three ball to cap a 100-92 win!  Tacos and Finals.  What else could the Lakers and the fans possibly want?  An often terrible first half gets pushed aside by a unified and disciplined second act.  More shots from closer in, better ball movement, a life inside the paint, better D.  Kobe led all scorers with 39, with double-digit help coming from LO and Gasol, who added 19 rebounds and 4 blocks.  Throw in some solid work from the entire bench and a tight, often tense game rounded out in favorable form.   

Again, what more could the Lakers and fans possibly want?