The Spurs will try to forget their NBA Playoff Finals Game 1 loss Wednesday night to the Lakers, 89-85.  In Game 1 the Spurs led 65-45 with 5:54 left in the third quarter, and seemed to be on their way toward landing a crushing blow in the series.  Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers waited toward the end of the 3rd quarter to make there big run.  The Lakers outscored the Spurs 24-13 in the fourth quarter, when San Antonio shot 3-for-21, including 1-for-9 from 3-point range.  Silly turnovers, ill-advised decisions lost the game for the Spurs.  Bryant had 25 points in the second half.  The oddsmakers at bodoglife.com currently have the Lakers -7 favorites to San Antonio into this NBA Playoff betting matchup.

The question is can the Spurs keep the Lakers from scoring 90+ throughout the series?  I don't think so.  Can the Spurs score 85+ in all of the games?  I don't think so.  The Spurs, while the most complete and talented team in the NBA, don't have the firepower to keep up with the Lakers scoring.  And yes, while they have perhaps the best defense in the league, they are going up against perhaps the greatest offensive perimeter player ever in Kobe.  In the game 1 win the Lakers' comeback marked only the second time since 1998 that a team had overcome a 20-point second-half deficit to win an NBA playoff game.  It looks like Kobe can turn it on at any point.

In this series they are going to let Kobe have his points, that is just office.  Spurs are more concerned about stopping everyone else.  Everyone knows Kobe will score his points.  In the end, whatever happened in Game 1 is just that.  You can't expect Game 2 to look anything like it. If it does, I don't think the Lakers would come back again.  Besides coaches Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich are such good coaches that  every adjustment that needs to be made is going to be made and the team that executes the adjustments given to them by their coach will win this game. 

NBA Angle plays for this NBA Playoff Picks Matchup When LA LAKERS team Played as Home team as a Favorite - with 1 day off - Total is between 190 to 195 - Allowed 85 or less points AGAINST in their last game - Coming off 1 under 11-1 SU in this spot. When LA LAKERS team played as a Home team - Last 2 years - playing on Friday 18-9 O/U in this spot

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