Last night, the Lakers faced the Spurs for the second time in a week. Their first meeting went very well for the Lakers, not so well for the Spurs, with Andrew Bynum gobbling up 30 rebounds in a beatdown in San Antonio. This time around, the Spurs put on their steel-toed cowboy boots and kicked the you-know-what out of the Lakers, romping over them to a 21-point victory in Staples Center. As Andrew Bynum said after the game, "They beat us like we stole something."
''It went just as well for us as it went for them in San Antonio,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ''The Lakers had the kind of night we had back home when they destroyed us. So we had a good night, and we still caught a break: I looked hard, but I didn't see Kobe anywhere. I think that helped us a little bit.''
Kobe Bryant sat out his sixth straight game (only the 101st in his career) and is doubtful for tonight's game against the Golden State Warriors, but that is only part of the reason the Lakers lost. Mainly, the Spurs were just better at not turning the ball over (they had 12 while the Lakers had 19), and shooting the 3 ball. In the second quarter, the Lakers turned the ball over on five straight possessions--FIVE STRAIGHT POSSESSIONS. The Spurs capitalized on each one, turning a close game into a rout by scoring 18 unanswered points. Needless to say, it didn't get any better from there, although the Lakers did try to make a push late in the third quarter. Alas, their efforts failed and they fell for just the seventh time at home.
For those who think the Lakers can just go out and spend as much money as they want on good players because of their new television deal, Jim Buss tell you to think again. That ain't the way the game is played.
Shortly after settling the new CBA, the NBA also hammered out a new revenue-sharing plan. Under the new model, Buss estimated that the Lakers, who used to dole out approximately $4 million to $6 million a season in revenue sharing, now will owe anywhere from $50 million to $80 million in revenue sharing each season.
He also talks about his relationship with Kobe and Phil Jackson. Interesting stuff.
"Yes, we had dinner," Buss said when asked if he heeded Johnson's advice to connect with Bryant. "We talk all the time now. What it is is, be it my fault, I should communicate more with the players in a certain way. I've always felt that when it comes to (player movement) decisions that it changes every 10 minutes when it's actually going to happen. To inform a player or ask a player's opinion about this guy or that guy, it would bore them to death and drive them crazy. So, I was under the impression that it was better to wait until the very last moment and then talk to him."
In other news: Derrick Rose has a hard time handling his fame; the Lakers are uber-clutch at the end of games; Kevin Love is still out with a concussion; and Ray Allen has abnormally large calf muscles. Finally, a Dallas reporter thinks the Lakers failed to show the proper respect to the World Champion Mavericks during their visit last Sunday. LULZ